m 



Library OF CONGRESS, I 

! ^ S 

I UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. | 



THE "SPIRITUAL" DELUSION; 



THE PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENA 
CRITICALLY EXAMINED. 



BY 

DYER D. LUM, 

AUTHOB OP " THE EAELY SOCIAL LIFE 07 MAN.' 



• " 'Ti3 an unweeded garden 

That grows to seed ; things rank and gross in nature 

Possess it merely." 

Hamlet. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 

18T3. 



0?^ 



r.-" 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



TO 

THE MEMORY 

OF 

MY BROTHER AND SISTER, 

THIS ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THE NAMES OF OUR LOVED ONES BETOND THE SILENT RITEB 

AND THE TENDER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH THEM TREASURED IN THB 

SECRET RECESSES OF OUR HEARTS, FROM PROFANATION 

BT STROLLING JUGGLERS AND THEIR 

CREDULOUS DUPES, 

THESE I>.A.(3-ES 
ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



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PEEFAOE. 



In presenting this little work to the public, it may be 
well to state at the outset that no new theory is urged 
to account for the " spiritual manifestations" so loudly 
asserted to be everywhere occurring, nor is it designed 
to definitely map out the causes of all the phenomena 
presented by "mediums" with the accuracy of a phreno- 
logical chart. 

While not assuming to offer anything new on this 
well-worn subject, it has seemed to the author that an 
examination of the claim of the spiritists, that disem- 
bodied fellow-mortals do communicate and manifest 
themselves to us, might commend itself to many still 
halting in their convictions with regard to these singular 
phenomena. That they are not the result of spiritual 
beings operating from the unseen may be definitely shown ; 
and to group together the various reasons leading to this 
conclusion, to show that the phenomena in question do 
not require the presence of hypothetical " spirits," is the 
aim of the following pages. 

In the consideration of the subject, many phenomena 
that, owing to their marvelousness, commend themselves 
to the simple as "demonstrative evidences" of the spirital 
theory, will be seen to be explicable upon scientific prin- 

(5) 



6 PREFA CE. 

ciples; a less number, vociferously asserted to be "tests," 
may not be so easily explained ; but even in these cases 
we may clearly see that " spirits" are in no event to be 
accredited with their occurrence. 

To those who have neither the time nor inclination to 
thoroughly investigate the subject in the light of modern 
scientific research, but are still perplexed with the appar- 
ent mystery surrounding it, these pages are addressed, 
the author believing that a statement of the reasons 
which have led him out of this treacherous quicksand to 
healthful moral actiou may be of service to many not 
as yet lost to all appeals to reason and common sense. 

Northampton, Mass., May, 1873. 



COI^fTEKTS. 



PART I. 

THE PniLOSOPHT. 
CHAPTER I. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNSCIENTIFIC IN ITS METHODS. 

FAOE 

1. In its recurrence to savage modes of thought 9 

2. In its implicit denial of uniformity in nature 13 

3. In its investigations based on assumption 16 

4. In its reliance on unsatisfactory testimony and unwarranted 

inferences 22 

5. In its bizarre contributions to scientific knowledge 25 

CHAPTER II. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNPHILOSOPHICAL IN ITS TEACHINGS. 

1. In its materialistic spiritunlism 42 

2. In its confusion of distinctions between physical and spiritual 

realms of being 51 

3. In its claim of higher spirituality for rejuvenated polytheism... 56 

4. In its fallacious mental philosophy 76 

CHAPTER III. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNNATURAL IN ITS EFFECTS. 

1. In its effect on mental health by destroying self-reliance 80 

2. In its effect on spiritual health by fostering superstition 85 

3. In its effect on physical health by developing abnormal faculties... 92 

4. In its effect on moral health by weakening self-control 94 

1 



CONTENTS. 
PART IL 

THE PHENOMENA. 
CHAPTER I. 



Inteoductort. 



CHAPTER II. 

MENTAL EXALTATION. 

1. In mental derangement 104 

2. In the use of stimulants 107 

3. In slumber Ill 

4. In magnetic somuolency 114 

CHAPTER III. 

" OBSESSION." 

1. Evidence of the senses 125 

2. The witchcraft delusion 129 

8. Mental epidemics 13S 

CHAPTER IV. 

UNCONSCIOUS ACTION OF THE BRAIN. 

1. Unconscious cerebration 148 

2. All impressions permanent 157 

3. Mental telegraphing and prevision 164 

CHAPTER V. 

"what PHENOMENA OCCUR?" 

1. Liability to self-delusion , 182 

2. Tendency of scientific research 195 

CHAPTER VI. 

PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS. 

1. Involuntary actions 205 

2. Hints towards a solution 226 



THE "SPIRITUAL" DELUSION. 



PART I.-THE PHILOSOPHY. 



CHAPTER I. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNSCIENTIFIC IN ITS METHODS. 

1. In its recurrence to savage modes of thought. 

Living in a barbarous and unlettered condition, the 
sport of conflicting forces alternately fostering and de- 
stroying the fruit of his labors, and exciting fear and 
trembling by the apparent waywardness of their action, 
the savage would naturally seek for some explanation of 
these confusing phenomena, and the means to avert im- 
pending calamities in future. 

Trees sheltered him from the burning rays of the sun, 
and afforded fuel for his fire ; fire warmed him when 
chilled by exposure, and prepared his food in a more 
palatable manner; beasts clothed him, and could be made 
useful in many ways ; water not only slaked his thirst, 
but also cleansed his body ; rains refreshed him, and gave 
renewed life to vegetation. These facts would call forth 
no thought from a savage mind. But his rude and 
selfish consciousness could not but observe that these 
facts were not always calculated for his benefit, but 
were apparently controlled by motives as uncertain and 
A* " ( 9 ) 



10 TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

contrary as human passions. These unknown forces ex- 
cited his fears and terrors. 

Fire could consume him, water drown him, trees crush 
him. What the sun had nurtured, storms would destroy. 
The long and patient labor of multitudes would in a few 
hours be swept away. Whence came this strange con- 
trariety of actions, so like in its effects to human passions 
and iujpulses ? Evidently from superior beings, invisible 
it. is true, bat whose existence and power were daily seen 
in the devastating effects they produced. 

The explanation thus naturally adopted would be re- 
sorted to whenever any event transcended his limited 
range of experience. "Animism," says E. B. Tylor, "is 
the doctrine of all men who believe in active spiritual 
beings ; it is essentially the antagonist of materialism, 
and in some form or other it is the religion of mankind, 
from the rude savage of the Australian bush or the 
Brazilian forest, up to the most enlightened Christian. 
Now, animism in the lower civilization is not only a 
religion, but also a philosophy ; it has to furnish rational 
explanations of one phenomenon after another, which we 
treat as belonging to biology or physics. If a man is 
alive and moving, the animistic explanation is, that the 
soul, a thin, ethereal, not immaterial being, in the man's 
likeness, is within him, animating him, just as one gets 
inside a coat atid moves it. If the man sleeps and dreams, 
then either the soul has gone out of him to see sights 
which he will remember when he wakes, or it is lying 
quiet in his body, receiving visits from the spirits of 
other people, dead or alive, — visits which we call dreams. 
If a man, when fasting or sick, sees a vision, this is a 
ghost or some other spirit; if he faints or falls into a fit, 
his soul has gone out from him for a time, and must be 
recalled with mystic ceremonies ; if it returns, he recovers, 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. \\ 

but if it stays away permanently, then the man is dead. 
If the man takes a fever or goes mad, then it is a spirit 
which is hovering- about the person, shaking or maltreat- 
ing him, or it lias got inside him, and is driving him, 
tearing him, speaking and crying by his voice." 

This description of savage thought is not without its 
parallel in our own land of boasted civilized thought. 
Instead of any reference to physical cause and effect, the 
spiritist hastily assumes the presence and agency of a 
"spirit," to account for phenomena which transcend the 
powers of his mind. Assuming a learned look, the 
spiritist seeks to confute "groveling, mole-eyed science" 
by an elaborate collection of the superstitious rites and 
observances of uncivilized tribes of men, to demonstrate 
the universality of commerce with spiritual beings, 
seemingly unconscious that by thus allying himself with 
rope-tying Greenland angekoks, Ojibway conjurers, and 
Siberian shamans, he is virtually confessing antagonism 
to the spirit of science, and seeking to restore the phi- 
losophy of ruder and more barbarous times. 

Professor Tylor says, " Set a Chinese and an Eng- 
lish medium to obtain written missives from the respect- 
ive spirits they believe in, and let a wild Ojibway In- 
dian look on at the performance. So far as the presence 
of disembodied spirits goes, possessing the performers, 
and guiding the pencils, or manifesting themselves by 
nips, or voices, or other actions, the savage would under- 
stand and admit it at once, for such things are part of 
his recognized system of nature : the only part of the 
affair out of his line would be the art of writing, which 
does belong to a higher grade of civilization than his. In 
a word, a modern medium is a red Indian or a Tartar 
shaman in a dress-coat." 

"If communion be indeed a fact," the spiritist retorts, 



12 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" why should not the fact be alike intelligible to all 
three ?" We reply, it is more than a question of fact: it 
is a question involving the true method of interpreting 
facts; whether "facts" shall be explained by the savage 
philosophy or the scientific method. "But if it be a 
fact?" Oh, most wise and sapient reasoner ! If it be 
indeed a fact that this mode of thought is the true torch 
to unravel the mysteries of nature, by throwing an in- 
stantaneous light on all marvelous phenomena, then the 
savage was a wise man, and the year 1813 is far down 
on the scale of decadence, and the sooner we break our 
crucibles and retorts, the better. 

To briefly state the radical difference between these 
two forms of thought will be sufficient to show that our 
charge is true and unanswerable. The savage attributes 
spiritual life as an adequate cause for all uncomprehended 
events. The belief in fairies, banshees, ghosts, witches, 
sorcery, etc., is a survival of savage thought, and to 
science alone are we indebted for emancipation from it. 
Belief in dreams and visions, as originating in an object- 
ive spiritual world, is savage thought; as being subjective 
phenomena of mind, is scientific. To regard the cata- 
leptic as a medium, is savage philosophy ; as a patient, 
is scientific. To the savage, apparitions are real ; science 
classifies them under well-understood laws, as mental 
hallucinations. To the savage, every medicine-man, 
conjurer, or shaman attests his commerce with "spirits" 
by phenomena consisting in strange. noises, rope-tying, 
and beating of drums by " invisibles." Communion with 
the unseen thus becomes possible by knocks and the 
movement of objects. To the student in science, explan- 
ation of phenomena based on ignorance of natural causes 
is emphatically unscientific. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 13 

2. In its implicit denial of uniformity in nature. 

The researches of the astronomer into the boundless 
expanse of the universe, filled with worlds and systems 
of worlds ; the investigations of the geologist unraveling 
the history of our planet down through countless cycles 
of time to primordial fire-mist; the discoveries of the 
biologist concerning the genesis and evolution of life from 
its earliest, scarce recognizable form, to its master-piece, 
the " human form divine," are all the result of the mind 
having clearly conceived the grand idea of uniformity 
and law in nature. The philosophy of the past has given 
way to new methods, under which all events are being 
slowly grouped as the result of natural causes. Not only 
in the physit^l world has the conception of uniformity 
triumphed, but as well in the world of mind. Dr. Dra- 
per, well aware of the intimate connection between man 
and nature, has remarked that but for the Gulf Stream, 
Newton would not have written his Priiicipia, nor Milton 
sung; for (otherwise) England would have been as bleak 
and dreary as Labrador, and the Anglo-Saxon race mere 
Esquimaux. 

If Washington, Lafayette, Kosciusko, and Kossuth had 
been born and obliged to live in abject poverty, struggling 
through life for merely enough to prevent the divorce of 
soul and body, as millions do, the world would never have 
heard their eloquent words, or witnessed their still more 
eloquent deeds. Is not life itself influenced by invariable 
law ? Births and deaths are ever relatively the same, 
not merely in number, but also in regard to sex. By the 
study of statistics we may even calculate how many let- 
ters without any address will this month be dropped in 
the Boston post-office, apparently one of the most acci- 
dental of events. 

2 



14 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

The same is true, not only of crime in the aggregate, 
but even as to its nature, enabling us to determine both 
the perihelion and aphelion of any crime in its annual 
orbit. In summer, crimes against persons preponderate 
over crimes against property ; in winter, the reverse. 
The tendency of women to commit crimes against per- 
sons is, to men, the same as the relations of physical 
strength between the two sexes. We cannot assert of 
this man or of that that he will commit a crime, yet we 
ascertain the relative number of each given offense that 
will be committed during the year in any country not 
disturbed by exceptional exciting events. 

It is only by taking in a wider field of vision, a more 
enlarged retrospect of human action, that uniformity be- 
comes apparent. Yet of individual human action, it must 
be borne in mind, we can form no definite estimate, nor 
predetermine an act. 

The spiritist theoretically affirms the universality of 
law, but practically denies it by introducing new factors 
to still more complicate the mystery; and these unknown 
factors being " spirits," they are not amenable to the 
laws of matter and motion on our terrestrial sphere, but 
override or annul them at will. 

Our knowledge of the uniformity in the aggregate 
actions of men results from our having abundant means 
to examine these actions, from the most trivial to the 
most important. Spiritist literature is replete with anec- 
dotes illustrating the power of " spiritual beings" to sus- 
pend the natural order of things to avert some personal 
calamity. " Spirits" have been known, it is soberly assev- 
erated, to stop the water-wheel of a mill without the use 
of the lever; to cause persons to fall up hill when de- 
struction would have awaited their downward course. 
They interfere in all the domestic relations of this world 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 15 

to thwart or aid our plans and accomplish their ends, how- 
ever whimsical. I have heard a — so-called — " well-at- 
tested" instance of a gentleman lying in his bed in the 
morning and hearing " spirits " strike a match and light 
a fire in the stove prepared over-night ! Some of our 
prominent spiritist lecturers wear gold charms said to 
have been brought to them " by spiritual agency." The 
question where they got them is not pressed I 

Science is based on the universality of law; and to 
assert that " spirits " are controlled by law does not evade 
the charge, for, from the very nature of the case, it must 
be by laws governing their world or condition of exist- 
ence, not ours, and consequently beyond the grasp of our 
faculties here, for the evident reason that we are unable 
to obtain any glimpse of that condition of life, save what 
is occasionally reflected through " mediumship." As long 
as we are unable to observe the " spirits" in their daily 
and hourly avocations, we can form no conception of the 
laws governing them, nor of the extent of their power 
over the physical forces of gravity, light, heat, etc. 

The phenomena of individual mental action have not 
yet been co-ordinated under law, and many philosophers, 
in fact, all of the school of spiritual philosophy, in affirai- 
ing the freedom of the will, deny its possibility in indi- 
vidual cases. If, therefore, human will, operating from 
the unseen, can interfere in all the relations of life, and 
destroy the apparent connection between cause and effect, 
then affirmations of law are but empty sound and utterly 
meaningless. The Greeks recognized the universality 
of law in the same sense, and when any mysterious event 
occurred inexplicable to them, it was ascribed to some 
spiritual being working in accordance with the laws of 
another sphere of existence. 

The crowning glory of science is that it has exorcised 



16 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the " spirits" out of the trees and winds, out of the rivers 
and mountains. Even the later forms of the same phase 
of thought, regarding forces as mysterious entities lying 
latent in matter, have had to succumb to the power of 
physical investigation. 

A recent writer has aptly remarked, " This broad do- 
main has been conquered little by little ; for the spirits 
have always been very loath to go. They cling longest 
in the obscurest parts of existence, where it is difficult for 
the exorcising process to penetrate. They still persist in 
retaining a certain control of the mental operations ; 
though with most of scientists the mind is placed, with 
all things else, under the dominion of force and law." 

Is it asserted that a knowledge of mind is not included 
in a knowledge of nature ? If so, it is an unproven as- 
sumption, and the cause of the barrenness of much meta- 
physical speculation. The metaphysician, with his de- 
ductions from pure reason, and the theologian, with his 

Thus saith the anything but proven facts, have been 

tried and found incompetent to decide the phenomena of 
mind, and upon scientists has the task descended. But 
modern science, we are sometimes warned, is material- 
istic! Names or epithets have lost their power, happily, 
in deterring us from investigation. We are first to ask, 
not where or to what does a principle lead, but, Is it true ? 
Is it based on facts? 

3. In its investigations based on assumption. 

Scientific investigation is based on a careful and scruti- 
nizing accumulation of facts, until it becomes possible to 
rise to some generalization and grasp the law under- 
lying them. " Spirit," says Sir David Brewster, " is the 
last thing I shall give in to ;" and he was right ; for, the 
hypothesis once granted, investigation for critical pur- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 17 

poses ceases ; inquiry for the cause is no longer needed 
"When the phenomenon, moreover, occurs in that realm of 
which he possesses the least accurate knowledge concern- 
ing its nature and hidden springs of action, the clear con- 
ception of uniformity, that has never as yet failed him 
in his elucidation of nature's mysteries, renders him loath 
to recur to savage forms of thought for an explanation. 

He rather queries within himself, " I am as yet igno- 
rant of the workings of the human mind in too many 
respects to hastily indorse the spirital hypothesis. We 
know that in former times it was believed most where 
natural law was understood least : thus patron saints 
manifested themselves to Catholic believers, fairies and 
elves to those who had no doubt of their existence, and 
devils admitted they were obsessing and bewitching 
mortals when addressed by orthodox interrogators.* 
The interrelation of forces in the domain of psycholog- 
ical science is as yet too little understood ; there seems to 
remain too much room for inference that the mind, though 
altogether unconsciously, may have much to do with the 
shaping of these purported communications I must in- 
vestigate not only the phenomena, but tlie mental status 

S- « ^jjg Greeks and Romans of antiquity were just as much liable to 
disorders of the nervous system as we are, but to them supernatural 
appearances came under mythologic forms, — Venus, and Mars, and 
Minerva. The places of these were taken in the dreams of the ascetics 
of the Middle Ages by phantoms of the Virgin and the saints. At a still 
later time, in Northern Europe, and even in England, where the old 
pagan superstitions ^e scarcely yet rooted out of the vulgar mind, even 
though the Reformation has broken the system of ecclesiastical thought, 
fairies and brownies and Robin Goodfellow survive. The form of phan- 
toms has changed with change of the creed of communities, and we may 
therefore, with good Reginald Scot, inquire, ' If the apparitions which 
have been seen by true men and brave men in all ages of the world were 
real existences, what has become of the swarms of them in these latter 
times?' " — Draper's Human Physiology, p. 407. 

2* 



18 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

of the medium through whom these so-called revelations 
come, before I can decide as to their origin." 

The scientist ascribes any given phenomenon, when the 
cause is unknown, to the operation of some natural law, — 
to laws operative here, not to laws peculiar to the spheres, 
— and never loses sight of this iu his attempts to investi- 
gate. If a table moves, it must be by the application of 
force ; in what manner it is applied, and the nature of 
the force, is the problem to be worked out. If scientists 
had ever lost sight of this aim in their researches, our 
knowledge of nature would be naught. 

When the Greeks first observed the singular phenome- 
non of electricity induced by rubbing amber, even the 
philosophers were amazed and marveled much. Inves- 
tigation but deepened their conviction that some "ex- 
ternal influence" was there manifesting itself, and they 
sapiently concluded that minute spirits dwelt in the 
amber, who, becoming exasperated, threw out their 
feelers and claws to seize whatever came in contact with 
them.* " Spirit-influence" thus coming in, the very pos- 



* "It is an opinion of the remotest antiquity, that there exists no- 
thing, however vile and abject, no disease of the mind, no virtue, that is 
not under the protection and control of some particular demon or genius. 
The doctrine is said to have been derived originally from the Chaldeans. 
Be this as it may, one thing is unquestionable, and evident, even from 
the authority of Hesiod, that the earliest inhabitants of Greece were im- 
bued with it; and it is no less certain that the opinion was propagated 
from the people to the professors of wisdom themselves, having been 
adopted by Pythagoras and Plato, philosophers of the highest authority. 
With respect to Plato, indeed, no one can doubt that, if the philosophy 
which he taught his disciples be divested of the doctrine of demons and 
genii, it loses its most important part. And how prone Pythagoras was 
to enlarge the empire of demons, may be learned both from many other' 
incidents in his history, and especially from the fact that he at once 
referred to them the causes of all recondite and abstruse matters. Be- 
ing asked what occasioned the acute sound emitted from brass, he gravely 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 19 

sibility of scientific explanation vanished, and we had 
to wait two thousand years for the electric telegraph. 

AVith many spiritists, investigation in any true sense 
of the word is impossible. By far the larger portion of 
them having but the most limited knowledge of psycho- 
logical phenomena, more particularly of disordered intel- 
lectual or sensitive action, the marvelousness of the phe- 
nomenon in question is sufficient to elicit their full cre- 
dence in its super-physical origin. Even ordinary cases 
of imperfect mental action are often sufficient to convince 
them that they are the result of mediumship. So com- 
pletely does this preconception control the ardent spiritist, 
that if a table tips, or crockery breaks, no step can be 
taken towards an "investigation" until amedium has been 
sent for to ascertain what the assumed " spirit" wants, 
or who he or she is. Does a person manifest strange 
nervous action ; " investigation" first of all requires that 
a circle be formed ! Do certain involuntary movements 
of the muscles occur; a "spirit" is endeavoring to 
"manifest" ! 

Dr. Wigan, in his " Duality of the Mind" (pages 23T- 
9), cites the case of a young man of distinction, and 
good disposition, who was " influenced" by an uncontrol- 
lable desire to run up into the organ-loft during divine 
service, and play some well-known jocular tune, and fre- 
quently one of "an indecent character. He always ap- 
peared sorry for it, and declared that he used every 
exertion to prevent it, but in vain, and finally had to ab- 



replied that it was the voice of a demon shut up in the brass !'— Por- 
phyrius, De Vita Pythagor., p. 42. Who would have expected such an 
unswer from a geometrician? And yet what method can be more con- 
venient and expeditious than this, towards clearing away all the diffi- 
culties which beset those who investigate the causes of things ?"—Mos- 
heim's Notes on Cudworth, vol. ii. p. 264. 



20 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

stain entirely from public service, though he would read 
the prayers at home with apparently sincere and tranquil 
devotion. If he accidentally passed an open church-door, 
the temptation was irresistible, and often resulted in 
serious embarrassment to him. In all other respects he 
was perfectly sane, but was subject to periodical epileptic 
fits. 

In our midst, such a case would excite no surprise in 
the .mind of the spiritist : he would see therein a con- 
vincing " manifestation of obsession." His theory would 
lead him to have the young man's mediumistic powers 
more fully developed, that " spirits" of a higher grade 
might be enabled to control him ; or by magnetic passes 
and kind words of advice seek to quiet the restless " in- 
fluence." The scientist would see in the young man, not 
a medium to be developed, but a patient requiring treat- 
ment, and if he sent for any one it would be for his 
physician. He would seek to restore the young man to 
a state of health, rather than " develop" a disordered 
state of the brain into irrecoverable madness, or a more 
fatal result. 

This illustration is given here, not as a type of what 
is known as " spirit-control," but to illustrate the diverse 
methods by which the scientist and spiritist would be 
governed in their treatment of the case. The scientist is 
habituated to co-ordinating facts first, and then seeking 
to grasp the law underlying them. The one investigates 
to discover the cause, the other to obtain a " test" to 
indorse his preconceived views. In the case given above, 
the scientist concludes it is imperfect mental action, be- 
cause similar cases are of not unfrequent occurrence where 
this can alone explain them, and he has been led by a 
large collection of facts to associate the presence of epi- 
leptic fits with imperfect mental action ; whilst to the 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 21 

spiritist, the epileptic paroxysms, if not viewed as ad- 
ditional evidence of "obsession," would be regarded as 
extraneous to it. 

In any circle for " physical manifestations," who ever 
heard of spiritists investigating the connection between 
the mental powers of the medium and the intelligence 
evinced in the manifestations ? In a circle for " musical 
manifestations," for instance, the spiritist investigator 
takes great pains to see that the medium is securely bound, 
and that no movement can be made without his knowl- 
edge ; and then, if the piano plays, or the guitar floats in 
the room, he is satisfied it is the work of " spirits," because 
he knows the medium, has not touched an instrument 1 

Do they ever seek to ascertain whether the compo- 
sitions played by the " influence" are familiar or not to 
the mind of the medmm ? Do they ever question 
whether the information obtained is such as to be new 
to all present? Do they ever call for some tune they 
know to be unknown to the medium or never heard by 
him? Ropes and bandages have no effect on the exer- 
cise of mental faculties, and the readiness with which 
they are relied on is evidence of the unfitness of the 
spiritist to conduct a scientific investigation. He is too 
much concerned in maintaining the requisite " conditions" 
insisted upon by the medium, to press any question : in- 
stead of preparing tests, he is seeking them. 

I well remember the first " spiritual seance" I ever at- 
tended. Many years since, in Springfield, Massachusetts, 
I was invited to attend a "test-circle" held for the purpose 
of investigation. The medium was a Dr. McFadden, a 
smooth-tongued and stoutly-built gentleman, wearing 
his hair in long oily ringlets. We all clasped hands in 
a circle composed of about a dozen individuals ; the 
" doctor" said it was necessary to have a lady sit on 



22 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

each side of him, as ladies were " negative" and he pos- 
sessed too much "positivism." On no account, we were 
charged, were we to withdraw our hands and break the 
chain of magnetic attraction. Twice through forgetful- 
ness, some one removed a hand from a neighbor's, and 
each time the "doctor" fell back with his head on the 
breast of one of the ladies beside him, giving vent to 
several groans, as if he had received a severe shock. 
Anxious to introduce a private test of my own, I slylj 
loosed my hold on the hand of the person next me, 
farthest removed from the medium, unknown to him, and, 
lo ! no shock was felt. 

We spent- two hours in the "investigation," and re- 
ceived one "test." An elderjj gentleman in the circle 
was told that on the side of the great toe of his left foot 
there was a small mole 1 The gentleman said he was 
not aware of it, and the circle broke up, and awaited in 
breathless expectancy an appeal to the fact. Retiring to 
one corner, the gentleman proceeded to ascertain if tbe 
statement was correct, and informed us that the "doctor" 
was right. This was glory enough for one night; and 
in the midst of the general congratulations of the faithful, 
I deposited my fifty-cent scrip in the medium's ready hat, 
and departed to muse over my first lesson in the "spirit- 
ual philosophy of the nineteenth century." 

This is an actual fact, and related without exaggera- 
tion, and I have no doubt that any who have met the 
"doctor" in his peregrinations will instantly recognize 
its inherent probability. 

4. In its reliance on unsatisfactory testimony and 
unwarranted inferences. 

The mere fact that certain phenomena occur without 
visible human agency is regarded as irrefutable evidence 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 23 

of immortality ! Not to recapitulate what has already- 
been said, we charge spiritism with being unscientific 
in its reliance on inferences drawn from a certain class 
of phenomena as related in the columns of the spirital 
press. Tliese testimonies as published can furnish no 
ground for conviction, nor^ basis for examination. The 
innumerable points which, as we have seen, pass by 
unnoticed or are regarded as extraneous by the narrator 
often contain the key to solve the whole mystery. 

In the case related in the last section, as narrated by 
Dr. Wigan, we found especial prominence given to the 
all-important fact of epilepsy. But if the same case had 
been narrated by a spiritist for the columns of one of 
his journals, he would not have felt the same necessity 
for mentioning it, and might have omitted all reference 
to it in his testimony. 

The state of mind that can greedily devour the ill- 
digested narrations of events transpiring in what is 
known in spirital nomenclature as the "night-side of 
nature," or the "debatable land," is the very reverse of 
that brought to bear upon scientific problems. The 
spiritist, if a medium, is completely under the control of 
the dominating idea, and is incapable of prosecuting a 
critical inquiry. Dr. Carpenter, in his " Human Physi- 
ology" (p. 633), truly observes, " When the mind has 
once yielded itself up to the dominance of these erroneous 
ideas, they can seldom be dispelled by any process of 
reasoning ; for it results from the very nature of the 
previous habits of thought that the reasoning-powers 
are w^eakened, and that the volitional control, through 
want of exercise, can no longer be exerted. If an at- 
tempt be made to reason a patient out of a delusion by 
demonstrating its complete inconsistency with the most 
obvious facts, the reply will be generally something to 



24 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

this effect: 'I have stronger evidence than anything 
which you can urge, — the evidence of my own feelings.'" 

Have you seen wonderful things ? publish it to the 
world ; collect a mass of testimony written under pre- 
conceived conceptions, and by its weight crush out all 
cavil and doubt. Does a man float in the air ? therefore 
be is immortal ! Does a man in Portland, with a broken 
back, spin around upon the foot-board of the bed on the 
injured part, like a tee-totum? therefore "thou shalt 
never die" 1 Do "spirits" in Montpelier lift cats in the 
air by the tail with invisible hands ? therefore thy rela- 
tives and friends are ever with thee 1 Can a medium in 
Boston tell me what I knew before, or how much change 
I have in my pocket, which I did not kaow ? " death, 
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 
Science is hardly prepared to resign to conjecture, and 
the question does become pertinent, " What phenomena 
occur ?" 

Professor Tyndall, with much force, has said, "The 
present promoters of spiritual phenomena divide them- 
selves into two classes, one of which needs no demonstra- 
tion, while the other is beyond the reach of proof. The 
victims like to believe, and they do not like to be unde- 
ceived. Science is perfectly powerless in the presence 
of this frame of mind. It is, moreover, a state perfectly 
compatible with extreme intellectual subtlety and capa- 
city for devising hypotheses which only require the 
hardihood engendered by strong conviction or by callous 
mendacity to render them impregnable. The logical 
feebleness of science is not sufficiently borne in mind. 
It keeps down the weed of superstition, not by logic, 
but by slowly rendering the mental soil unfit for its cul- 
tivation. When science appeals to uniform experience, 
the spiritualist will retort, ' How do you know that a 



THE SriRITVATj DELUSION. 25 

uniform experience will continue uniform ? You tell me 
that tlie sun has risen for six thousand years: that is no 
proof that it will rise to-morrow ; within the next twelve 
hours it may be puffed out by the Almighty.' Taking 
this ground, a man may maintain the story of ' Jack 
and the Bean-stalk' in the face of all the science in the 
world. You urge in vain that science has given us all 
the knowledge of the universe which we now possess, 
while spiritualism has added nothing to that knowledge. 
The drugged soul is beyond the reach of reason. It is 
in vain that impostors are exposed, and the special demon 
cast out. lie has but slightly to change his shape, return 
to his bouse, and find it empty, swept, and garnished." 
— Fragments of Science, p. 409. 

5. In its bizarre contributions to scientific knowledge. 

The progress of science has not been a peaceful one, 
but rather that of a couquering army, passing victoriously 
from one battle-field only to find the enemy securely in- 
trenched in another quarter. The strength of science 
lies in its methods of investigation. Determined to 
know more of the many mysteries with which we are 
sui'rounded, men of science realize that the mind must 
be divested of all preconceived conclusions on the sub- 
ject, and pursue the inductive method of collecting a 
sufficient number of facts before attempting any generali- 
zation ; to rise from the effect to an understanding of the 
law by which it is governed, is tlie method of science. 

Long and arduously have men of science labored ; 
with patient and pains-taking toil have they sought to 
obtain from the clutch of nature a glimpse, however 
faint, into the great secret; and now, through their labors, 
we find the conditions of life ameliorated, tlie comforts, 
and lux nil s even, placed within the rer.c'i of the toiling 

B .'] 



26 TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

multitudes, and a broader and more comprehensive edu- 
cation generally diffused. 

Science has trod no "royal road" to knowledge, but 
struggled on in thorny paths, bravely trampling difficul- 
ties under foot, and ever pressing on, accumulating facts 
before theories. No guardian " intellectual guide" was 
there for Watt, or Fulton, or Stephenson, to consult for 
information in his darkest hour. No familiar stood 
ready, upon the payment of a certain amount of good 
and lawful currency, to appear and solve the problems 
perplexing the mind of Morse, when he was struggling 
to give form to the idea dimly burning in his brain. 

Geologists were content to descend into quarry-beds, 
and to ascend precipitous mountains, hammer in hand, 
that they might read but a line on a page of the mighty 
volume spread out before them. Astronomers were sat- 
isfied if mechanical ingenuity could give them a clearer 
vision of the countless orbs which had so long kept 
their secret from human eyes, hoping to gain a deeper 
insight into the laws governing the universe. The 
biologist knew no greater pleasure than studying his 
science by the only method that as yet he knew to be 
capable of producing useful results, — that of careful in- 
vestigation, — trusting to obtain but a glimpse into that 
mightiest of all problems, — the problem of problems, — 
life. 

But old things have passed away, and all methods 
are new, under the light of the New Dispensation. Greolo- 
gists are no longer required to content themselves with 
long and arduous toil to read the history of the earth's 
formation. Sitting in his study, and placing his mind in 
a condition of " passive receptivity," the geologist may 
become the agent of another, — of one who has risen above 
the " cramping influence of material environments" to the 



THE Sr I RITUAL DELUSION. 2T 

full realization of spirital manhood ; of one who has a 
thousand facilities at his command for investigating na- 
ture, and libraries far older and more extensive than that of 
Alexandria at his service, libraries incapable of destruction. 
He has had it in his power to question the sages of the 
past, resting after their various reincarnations, and com- 
mune with the eminent geologists who have passed on after 
a lifetime of study. This more extended field of research 
exhausted, he hastens to unfold the mysteries of nature 
to the patient toilers in the form, who are still laboriously 
pursuing the " mole-eyed" method. 

Is this a jest ? Not at all. The mind of " passive 
receptivity" having been found (and the spiritists' ranks 
contain many such). Professor Lyon returns, and pre- 
sents to mortals, still held in the "cramping influence of 
material environments," the results of his studies in the 
higher spheres. The " material" consideration having 
been satisfactorily arranged to- the publisher's notion, 
" The Hollow Globe" is born, and secrets which have 
long puzzled the mundane physicist stand revealed. By a 
trifling outlay of currency the whole mystery of world- 
building may be ascertained, and " mole-eyed science" 
forever silenced. 

Worlds are made by, or through the agency of, spirital 
architects, who frame and fashion the whole material 
creation after certain immutable laws. And they builded 
wiser than we knew ; for anxious, as we may conjecture, 
to economize in the expenditure of force, instead of a 
globe filled with a molten mass and pent-up forces, the 
earth was made in the form of a hollow globe, and fitted, 
internal as well as external, for the development of life. 
According to this new revelation, Lyell was led by his 
aforesaid "mole-eyed" mistress into many absurdities, cal- 
culated to cause a ghost of a smile to flit over the ethere- 



28 TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

alized countenances of the supernal scientists ; and 
Symmes stands revealed as the true prophet of geologi- 
cal science. 

" Symmes's Hole " was no imaginative illusion, but a 
veritable fact, and exists still, awaiting the arrival of the 
adventuresome explorer, in the vast undiscovered conti- 
nent, replete with life and tropical vegetation, which, as 
we know from other Flashes of Light from the Spirit- 
World, lies in the immediate vicinity of the North Pole ! 
Oh, where is the daring Stanley, to penetrate through the 
icy barriers surrounding that undiscovered continent, and 
traverse its smiling valleys and cross its lofty mountains, 
and bring to us news of Sir John Franklin and his com- 
panions ? Perhaps the knight has entered that " Hole" 
into which the Gulf Stream flows, and been borne to 
happier climes, where he may have renewed the vigor of 
his youth and be dwelling peacefully. 

To all lovers of true science, who have felt a natural 
repugnance to climb the rocky road and learn the barba- 
rous nomenclature prescribed by Old Science, we com- 
mend this volume. No one can doubt its mediumistic 
origin after one careful perusal, for it bears on every 
page irrefutable evidence of not being the work of any 
living scientist ! 

Astronomers also may dispense with their instruments, 
and enjoy a social chat with the inhabitants of the various 
planets, who occasionally penetrate our atmosphere on 
tours of scientific investigation. Denizens of the moon 
visit us, and by their presence confute the theory that 
their former abode is a burnt-out world, and from their 
lips we have a vivid description of lunar life and manners 
on the hither side of the moon's surface. 

Certain recent speculations of astronomers, who have 
confined themselves to the old methods of inductive re- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 29 

search, are regarded from the spirital stand-point as 
fruitful instances of the inherent falsity of their methods, 
being in direct contradiction with the testimony of the 
" spirits" who have resided in the sun and the planets, 
as well as the " evidence" derived from the seer's clear 
vision of those abodes. Are not persons who have lived 
on the sun more reliable than mere inferences drawn from 
spectrum analysis discoveries as to the physical consti- 
tution of the sun ? 

Recent researches of mortal astronomers have led them 
to conclusions regarding the physical constitution of the 
major planets of a startling nature ; various singular ap- 
pearances presented by them have led to the supposition 
that these planets themselves are still intensely heated, 
and emit light and heat of their own. True, as we know 
from the pen of A. J. Davis, " in the beginning the uni- 
verccelum was one boundless, undefinable, unimaginable 
ocean of Liquid Fire;" but "progression," we had sup- 
posed, was fleeter-footed. According to the late Profes- 
sor Bond, however, Jupiter shines far more brightly than 
the reflection of the light falling upon his surface will 
warrant. Observations taken while Jupiter's satellites 
were passing its face exhibit these satellites as black 
spots on its surface, their reflected light being inappreci- 
able when compared with that of the planet itself The 
belt-zones of Jupiter bear witness to terrific convulsions 
on that planet ; the spectrum of Saturn and Uranus, and 
the nebulous edge presented by the spectrum of Neptune, 
are thought to be accountable for on no other hypothesis 
than that these planets have not yet attained that degree 
of density necessary for the presentation of a solid sur- 
face. Hence the major planets are rather to be viewed 
as secondary suns than as inhabitable worlds; as sources 
of additional light and heat to their satellites, — rulers of 

3* 



30 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

a scheme of subordinate orbs, on which alone the multi- 
form manifestations of life may exist. 

But what are sodium lines, when we have direct com- 
munication with those who have once lived on these 
planets ? Have we not had duly spread out before us, in 
the columns of the spirital press, descriptions of scenery 
in the Jovian world, and picturesque delineations of the 
midnight sky on the Saturnian globe ? We are told that 
their inhabitants are far superior to earth's mortals in 
physical development, and have attained to so high a 
degree of spiritual unfoldment as to be able to pass 
through the air on their journeys to and fro. They have 
progressed far beyond earth's sons and daughters, who 
for countless ages yet to come will not outgrow " the 
cramping influence of material environments" sufficiently 
to reach such high spiritual attainments. What has 
secular science told us concerning the seven spheres of 
the spirital life ? It is to spirital science we owe the 
grand discovery that they are composed of the spiritual 
emanations constantly emitted by the various planetary 
bodies. 

Without presuming to decide between the rival claims 
of " spirit-communion" and the ''seer's clear vision," as 
to which is entitled to priority as evidence,! will quote 
briefly from both on this highly important point. With- 
out compromising the authority of our ghostly visitants, 
we will first refer to the testimony of one who daily visits 
the " inner life." 

" Canst thou form an idea of the magnitude of the 
second sphere ? 

" Multiply our earth by twenty-seven million times its 
present size, and it will give you the exact size of one 
of the countless parks of the second sphere. 

" How was the spirit-land formed ? 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 31 

" What law was it which formed the sparkling girdles 
of Saturn ? What becomes of the fine invisible particles 
of matter which emanate from vegetation, from minerals, 
from all animal bodies, and from the entire globe ? This 
earth alone gives off eight hundred million tons of in- 
visible emanations every year. Where do these atoms 
go? The earth perspires, like the human body. . . . 
All the other planets — Mercury, Venus, the vast group 
of asteroids. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the three orbs be- 
yond, together with all their moons \_sic'] — give off 
fine emanations just like the earth. Where do these 
emanations go ? These questions are left you as replies 
to query as to the foundation of the spirit-land." 

The "Milky Way" is composed of countless systems 
of worlds, of which our solar system is one, and the 
" second sphere" lies beyond and encircling this. " The 
second sphere [the spirital] girdles the first sphere 
[the " Milky Way"], just as the rings girdle the planet 
Saturn. The representation is perfect." Thus far from 
the "clear vision" of Andrew Jackson Davis in "The 
Present Age and Inner Life," and not, as some may have 
inferred, from the spirital lips of some ancient Brahmin. 

Of all the testimony offered us by the dwellers in the 
spheres, we will only refer to that given by Immanuel 
Swedenborg, who in a case of this nature should be 
deemed a competent judge. That there might be no 
doubt of the identity of the illustrious Swede, " twenty 
spirits''' appeared, and voluntarily took an oath, "in the 
name of God," that Swedenborg was really present. 
This distinguished " spirit," having been thus satisfac- 
torily vouched for, deposed as follows: "The second 
sphere is above the atmosphere, about six miles in 
height. The third occupies ahowi forty miles in height. 
The fourth occupies a still wider space ; and so of the 



32 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

others, until the outer boundary of the sixth and com- 
mencement of the seventh, which is distant four or Jive 
thousand ■miles.'''' " In rising to the spheres, there are 
openings through which we rise." — Supernal Theology. 

In spiritual geography we have had considerable ad- 
dition to our fund of knowledge ; but, as we are more 
concerned at present in ascertaining the contributions to 
mundane science, we leave this highly useful and in- 
structive study, to ascertain in what respects the biologist 
is indebted to the light of the New Dispensation. 

From the Banner of Light, of July 6, 1872, I extract 
from the " Questions and Answers" of the " Banner of 
Light Free Circles" the following : 

" Question (from a correspondent). — Among the ques- 
tions and answers in the Banner of December 23d, 
is opened up a subject of considerable interest, upon 
which I would be pleased to receive more light from the 
controlling intelligence. The declaration is made that 
'offspring are born to parents in the spirit-world.' Is it 
supposed or known that the process of generation con- 
tinues in the higher spheres indefinitely ? 

"Answer (Theodore Parker).— ^So far as my experi- 
ence extends, I learn that the process of generation, so 
far as the human species is concerned, begins here and 
ends here ; and yet there are spiritual births taking place 
every hour in our life,— every moment, every second, 
according to earth-time, — and in this way. You are con- 
stantly sending off from your life these germs that need 
individualizing, that need to be surrounded by love, by 
wisdom, and strength, that they may mature in intelli- 
gence in the spirit-world. These germs that are thrown 
off in your life, ere they are ushered into existence here, 
are destined to an individualized existence in the spirit- 
world, and they all need fathers and mothers there. They 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 33 

have need of the father's strength to hold them in posi- 
tion until they shall become individualized existence." 

There are many questions that might be pressed to 
elucidate this position of spirital physiology ; but I for- 
l)ear, and leave the " spirit" Theodore Parker to explain 
in his own way. 

" Ques. — Please explain what you mean by individ- 
ualizing the germs thrown off from our own spiritual 
natures. 

"Ans. — Gathering tothem those elements necessary for 
form and experience. Your individuality depends upon 
the amount of elements you have gained from nature. 
Now, nature extends beyond this earth. It goes through 
all the spiritual spheres ; for without nature there could 
be no form ; without form there could be no experience. 
Now, these little waifs need assistance in gathering to 
themselves those elements necessary to build up form, — 
structures through which the soul can manifest itself 
and become individualized. When it remains here in 
the mother-life during the proper time, it gathers these 
elements from the mother-life. When it is cast off before 
the j^Toper time, it is without these elements; then some- 
body must assist the little soul-germ to gather them for 
itself When you feed your infants, you strengthen the 
form : in the spirit-life they do even more than this ; they 
build up the form. At conception, the soul-germ be- 
comes simply conjoined with matter. Now, then, sup- 
pose it is thrown off immediately after that, it is not 
individualized at all; it is joined to matter, but not in- 
dividualized. So, then, a mother-life is necessary in the 
other world, — a mother's love and father's strength. All 
souls are first conjoined to matter through the sexual 
relations here in this life, here in the earthly sphere. 
TJiat is the business of this life." 

B* 



34 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

To spirital science we are indebted for new light on 
" biology ;" not the biology described in the text-books of 
the " mole-eyed " system, for spirital science scorns to be 
indebted to its less ambitious rival, but the " electrical- 
biology" of the platform, where it is illustrated by its 
distinguished exponents, " Professor" Stearns, " Profes- 
sor" Cadwell, and others. Again Mrs. Conant, of Boston, 
is the medium for this influx of scientific truth, as may be 
found in the Banne?' of Light for April 6, 1812. Pro- 
fessor Edgar C. Dayton is the ghostly respondent. 

" QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 

"Question (from the audience). — Professor Cadwell 
is in town, giving exhibitions of so-called ' mesmeric' 
power. After he has slightly manipulated the heads of 
the persons who present themselves to be mesmerized, 
they declare that they see any object or scene that he 
mentions, and, by their actions, indicate that they do be- 
lieve, for the time being, that they see them. The other 
evening, besides a variety of other experiments, he caused 
about a dozen young men apparently to see him boiling 
coffee on a hot stove, and to snuff up its odor ; and when he 
pretended that he had thrown it on their feet, they pulled 
off their boots, and jumped. about, and acted as if they had 
been scalded. Yet this pot of coffee and hot stove were 
nothing but an empty tin cup on a chair, and really 
nothing had been thrown upon them. ... I would 
inquire, ' What is the explanation of these persons seeing 
scenes and objects which did not exist?' 

"Ansioer. — You say he caused them to see scenes which 
did not exist. I shall be obliged to take exceptions to 
that statement, since all these psychological conditions do 
exist, of a verity; and they are just as perceptible to the 
consciousness of the spiritual senses, as are conditions 



THE SPIRIT UAL DELUSION. 35 

which are apparent to all ia this room perceptible to the 
consciousness of the material physical senses. Now, when 
it is understood that you are all living double lives, that 
you possess a double consciousness, one distinct and sepa- 
rate from the other, these things will appear less miracu- 
lous. The psychological professor psychologizes his sub- 
jects through the action of his spiritual senses. True, 
they see no boiling coffee, they physically feel no burn ; 
and yet, spiritually, this is a positive reality ; just as 
much a positive reality as it is a positive reality that the 
drunkard, during an attack of delirium tremens, sees 
snakes and venomous reptiles and they offend him. You 
say this is the hallucination of a disordered brain. I say 
it is not. There is nothing in all the science of life that 
can prove it to be so. It is a positive, spiritual reality 
to the one who sees, who feels and realizes the condition, 
as it is not a reality to one who does not see, feel, and 
realize that condition. Now, then, / denxj that there is 
any such thing as imagination. Everything that appeals 
to either of our sets of senses, the inner or the outer, is 
real, and becomes a demonstrated fact to that one set of 
senses at any rate. The others cannot demonstrate it, 
because it does not belong to them. . . . The law 
of psychology is, properly speaking, the law of spiritual 
science. 

"Qwes.--Will you be kind enough to explain just what 
j'ou mean by ' psychologizing' a person ? 

" Jn.s. I mean this: by bringing them into rapport with 

your thoughts, with your spiritual senses, your thoughts 
act upon these spiritual senses and produce these condi- 
tions. For instance : the psychological professor thinks 
of boiling coffee; his spiritual senses ^■7^^a?e the aroma, 
see the boiling coffee, realize the fact. The first thing to 
be done is to establish a connection between the two, — 



36 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

subject and operator. The professor's thoughts act as a 
key upon his spiritual senses ; in turn, his spiritual senses 
act in producing these conditions objectively io the spirit- 
ual senses of the subject. It is almost impossible to clearly 
elaborate these abstract ideas so that you who are 
cramped about by mortal conditions can clearly appreciate 
and understand them." 

In the Banner of Light, of November 2, 1872, we find 
Theodore Parker indorsing the same views, and denying 
the existence of imagination in man. I have taken up so 
much space with this scientific contribution that I will 
not pause to comment upon it. In fact, notwithstanding 
our "cramped conditions," I have no fears but they will 
be fully " appreciated" by the reader, even though un- 
versed in the rudiments of spirital science. 

To spirital science we are also indebted for the restora- 
tion of astrology to its proper rank in the circle of the 
sciences, and learned treatises are laid before the public, 
on the magnetic influence exercised by the planets and 
fixed stars upon human destiny, and the nature of their 
influence on the formation of character and personal ac- 
countability. 

The chemist may break his retorts and discontinue his 
molecular investigations, and sit at the feet of Theodore 
Parker, and learn that the accumulation of wealth is a 
chemical process ; for Parker informs us, through the 
Banner of Light (February 11, 1871), of this valuable 
truth. I submit it in full, that it may receive the atten- 
tion it merits from students in chemical science : 

" That the reception of wealth is indeed a result of the 
action of chemical laws is an absolute truth ; but it is no 
less true that the chemical relations and conditions of an 
individual are constantly changing. You are constantly 
throwing off chemical emanations from your bodies, and 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 3t 

taking on new ones. Perhaps to-day you may be chemic- 
ally in a fit condition to attract to yourself wealth, — 
gold, silver, the precious things of this earth. To-mor- 
row you may be chemically another being. Yes; hard 
work and economy and good common-sense [!] are valu- 
able acquisitions to your chemical condition. They are 
levers assisting what you have by nature ; precisely as a 
musical education would be of value to one musically en- 
dowed by nature. The elements being in the individual, 
these are conditions that favor their evolutions." 

Political economists should seek to thoroughly under- 
stand these chemical processes and evolutions ! 

Spiritists are barred from saying that " spirits" do 
not enlighten us on scientific subjects, for they have so 
sought in innumerable cases, or the communications were 
not from "spirits;" and I think but very few spiritists 
would hesitate to call Mrs. Conant a veritable medium, 
" through whose organism" most of these facts in spir- 
ital science were given. They profess their willingness 
and ability to receive and answer any question pro- 
pounded, and yet what real addition have we acquired 
to our fund of practical knowledge ? If a scientific ques- 
tion is pressed, we have in reply the merest dribble of 
" unimaginative" brains, or paltry evasions of facts, by 
replying in general terms. For instance : 

"Ques. — Please explain how it is possible that spirits 
can be photographed. 

" Ans. — They first pass themselves through a chemi- 
cal process which is analogous to the process of gal- 
vanism. They are plunged — if you please — in a bath 
of certain chemicals, that will be held in solulion for a 
very short time only, because they are taken from the 
air, and the air absorbs them again very quickly ; but 
the spirit can hold them in form for a sufficient length 

4 



38 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

of time to impress itself upon the sensitive plate. The 
use of a medium is necessary as a condenser." — "Theo- 
dore Parker," in Banner of Light, August 10, 1812. 

However much we may object to the lucidity of this 
explanation, we at once see that it professes to grapple 
the subject. When " mole-eyed science" is found to clash 
with the teachings of the spirital scientists, no trouble is 
experienced in solving the difficulty. The following may 
pass as a sample of the easy method of disposing of such 
apparent contradictions : 

" Ques. — I read in the Banner that the moon is in- 
habited by both man and animals. Now, Professor 
Shaler, of Harvard, and all other scientific men who 
have made the moon a special study, declare, beyond all 
doubt, that the conditions necessary to sustain life are 
not there, nor ever have been. How are we to account 
for these seemingly flat contradictions ? 

" Ans. — It is very easy to account for them. Pro- 
fessor Shaler has not been there ; somebody else has. 
One has absolute knowledge ; the other has guess-work, 
backed up by a little scientific knowledge, — very poor 
at that, however. Harvard cannot boast of much !" — 
" Theodore Parker," in Banner of Light, July 21, 18T2. 

Spiritists object to mundane science that it is " dog- 
matic" and " one-sided." Not desirous of bandying epi- 
thets, I refrain from characterizing the spirit displayed 
in the above. But Theodore Parker, though evidently a 
very changed man, was never remarkable in " earth-life" 
as a scientist, and we therefore part company with him 
here, to summon Benjamin Franklin on the stand, in 
whose testimony we should at least expect to observe an 
absence of dogmatism or self-assertion. Our American 
philosopher has our spiritual welfare so near his heart 
that he has assumed control of the editorial portion of 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 39 

the Banner of Light, — in other words, is the spirital 
guide and source of inspiration to the editor thereof, 
probably supplying the loss of " imagination" in the edi- 
torial brain with impressions on the " set of spiritual 
senses" therein. 

In the editorial columns of the Banner of Light, of 
October 5, 1872, is an article based on a recent trial of 
a gentleman (Dr. Schoeppe) for murder through the use 
of poison. He had been tried and found guilty, but a 
subsequent trial resulted in his acquittal. Both verdicts 
were based on the evidence of medical " experts." The 
philosopher says, — 

" In the trial of Mrs. Wharton at Annapolis it was 
demonstrated, as clearly as it is possible to do it, that 
science knew no more about matters it considered itself 
competent to testify upon than ignorance. . . . And 
now it has come to an equally ignominious end in the 
case of Dr. Schoeppe, of Pennsylvania. . . . The testi- 
mony on the second trial completely destroyed that ad- 
duced on the previous one, thus showing again that 
science is of all things the most unreliable. It has 
floored itself, and proved that it is idle to hang any faith 
upon it. Yet, while it shows its incapacity to deal with 
demonstrations on the coatings of the human stomach, 
it presumes in the most impudent manner to pass judg- 
ment on the mysteries of spiritual phenomena, of which 
it can know much less than it does even of physical oper- 
ations. Year after year it comes forward to deny the 
truths of spiritualism in the most dictatorial and offen- 
sive manner, while year after year spiritualism continues 
to advance with its proofs and to make captive the con- 
victions of the human mind and heart. We may reason- 
ably conclude, therefore, that science is a humbug, a pre- 
tender, a charlatan, not fit to be trusted with a judgment 



40 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

on any matter that involves such great interests as those 
involved in human beliefs." 

My respect for Benjamin Franklin is so profound that 
I will make no comments on the above, nor seek to rob 
it of any of its weight. With this characteristic quota- 
tion (of spirital science, — not of Franklin) I close my col- 
lection of acquisitions to science. 

Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since the 
first electric rap was struck which opened the line of 
communication between us and the spheres ; and since 
that eventful hour, we are told by Professor Denton, 
" spirits make their presence known daily, hourly, to 
multitudes, not disdaining the poorest or the vilest." 
Plato has returned, and socially chatted in New York 
in English speech. Demosthenes again thrills the hearts 
of multitudes with his burning eloquence, through the 
inspired lips of Victoria C. Woodhull. Benjamin Frank- 
lin continues his interest in scientific subjects, and Shak- 
speare renews his acquaintance with the muse. Theodore 
Parker becomes an encj^clopedic oracle, and Daniel Web- 
ster returns to correct mistakes in his dictionary 1 Lord 
Bacon discourses philosophy with Judge Edmonds, and 
the mirthful Calhoun indulges in antics under his table. 
And we have for results : in cosmology, the presence of 
spirit-architects for world-builders ; in geology, a hollow 
globe, with an internal development of forms of life ; in 
astronomy, races of salamanders living in the sun and 
major planets, and the discovery of the "spheres" "cir- 
cling" the Milky Way; in geography, a vast continent 
lying around and beyond the north pole, exceeding in 
size the whole known surface of the earth, and the 
definite location of " Synmies's Hole ;" in biology, the 
existence of "spiritual senses," which perceive what our 
outward senses had erroneously supposed to be the re- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 41 

suits of imagination as evidenced in delirium tremens ; 
in astrology, the influence of the stars on character; in 
chemistry, the law of attraction between human bodies 
and precious metals. 

In history, we have also valuable additions. Dr. 
Channing informs us that Jesus was an illegitimate child 
of Mary by Caiaphas, the high-priest ; and the disclo- 
sures by St. Paul of his share in the betrayal of Jesus, 
and subsequent hypocritical assumption of belief, may 
be read at length in his work on "Jesus of Nazareth," 
as given through the organism of Alexander Smith. The 
influence of the planetary bodies on the formation of 
character, if a truth, might lead us to conjecture that the 
lunar orb had a prevailing influence in the horoscope of 
our spiritist friends. 

Beyond these, — what? Savage and primitive in its 
forms of thought, ignorant and imbecile in its conception 
of uniformity in nature, arrogant and prejudiced in its 
investigations, partial and illogical in its collection of 
testimony and inferences therefrom, and contemptible and 
ridiculous in its vapid contributions to scientific knowl- 
edge, spiritism stands justly charged with being, in every 
sense of the term, unscientific. 



42 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



CHAPTER II. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNPHILOSOPHICAL IN ITS TEACHINGS. 

1. In its materialistic spiritualism. 

"In the early stages of human culture," says Dr. 
Alger, " when the natural sensibilities are intensely pre- 
ponderant in power, and the critical judgment is in abey- 
ance, whatever strongly moves the soul causes a poet- 
ical secretion on the part of the imagination. Thus, a 
rainbow is personified ; a waterfall is supposed to be 
haunted by spiritual beings ; a volcano with fiery crater 
is seen as a Cyclops with one flaming eye in the centre 
of his forehead. This law holds not only in relation to 
impressive objects or appearances in nature, but also in 
relation to occurrences, traditions, usages. In this way 
innumerable myths arise, — explanatory or amplifying 
thoughts secreted by the stimulated imagination, and 
then narrated as events." 

Thus Fetichism slowly emerged as the natural result 
of man's necessities. Every forest, river, mountain, and 
glen had its own inward life ; every tree, rock, and in- 
animate thing was endowed with a conscious personality. 
But, it has been often assei'ted, this tends to prove that 
religion and philosophy had their origin in ignorance of 
the natural causes of events. Not entirely so : through 
ignorance men offered their prayers or supplications to 
imaginary beings, but ignorance only caused the tnis- 
direction of their prayers ; it was never the cause of their 
heart-felt need of prayer. This exists independently of 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 43 

fear and ignorance. Aspiration, the soul of all prayer, 
has its existence in the very constitution of mind, and in 
an ignorant age must necessarily have been manifested 
in other than an enlightened method; and from that re- 
mote epoch to our own time, man has never been able to 
shake off this feeling of dependence on the Unseen. 

" As thought advanced," says Mill, " not only all 
physical agencies capable of ready generalization, as 
Night, Morning, Sleep, Death, together with the more 
obvious of the great emotional agencies. Beauty, Love, 
War, but by degrees also the ideal products of a higher 
abstraction, as Wisdom, Justice, and the like, were 
severally accounted the work and manifestation of as 
many special divinities. " The conception of higher power 
could not exist in primitive minds, independent of the 
idea of form. By the very constitution of our minds, 
we cannot think of things at all, without calling into 
action the imaginative faculties which deal with mental 
pictures of material objects. To the primitive man these 
mighty spirits must necessarily be endowed with form, 
organs, and passions similar in nature to our own. 

Long ages of steady advancement must have passed 
away before man could rise to a comprehension of the 
meaning of that grand statement — "God is Spirit!" 
And still how many there are who fail to even dimly dis- 
cern the depth and beauty of that saying, and persist in 
regarding form as essential to personality ! Spirit is 
illimitable, infinite; formless, yet not void; invisible, in- 
tangible, yet real. Goethe has said, and it is as true now 
as in prehistoric times, " Man is a true Narcissus ; he 
delights to see his own image everywhere ; and he spreads 
himself underneath the universe like the amalgam behind 
the glass." 

On the part of our spiritist friends we find a similar 



44 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

failure to comprehend the radical diiference between 
spirit and matter. In fact, most of them fail to make any 
distinction whatever in essence, and recognize them as 
virtually one, spirit being etherealized matter, more 
highly rarefied than anything of which we are now cogni- 
zant; possessing less density than a physical force, per- 
meating or passing through any form of gross matter, 
yet not affecting it physically. 

We have it stated by " spirits," as reported by Judge 
Edmonds in his book on "Spiritualism," that "spirit- 
body or spirit-matter is intangible ; and it is so sublimated 
that it is like electricity almost. We do not pass grossly 
through matter ; but we will, and like a current of 
electricity we pervade matter. Our clothing is adapted 
to our conditions, and thus we are able to take with us 
what is on us." The illustrious Swedenborg has so far 
" progressed" since his advent in the spheres, as to have 
the following highly "spiritual" conceptions: "Now, 
spirits possess a material nature, and this nature, or 
form, in some is so gross that it is almost subject to 
laws as imperative as those on earth. I mean as 
m.aterial laivs. Their material nature is under influ- 
ences that require obedience, and though there is none 
of the physical suffering you have, yet there is as much 
material necessity and absolute want, in proportion 
to the grossness of their nature, as there possibly can 
be in your material world." " We eat and drink of 
the fruit of the countries where we reside." " The new 
spirit often finds it necessary to shelter its body from the 
sun or storm." 

Swedenborg gives us the following pretty picture of 
the scenes which burst upon his spiritual vision on en- 
tering the spiritual world : " As soon as I reached the 
sixth sphere, I was conducted to my own home and left 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 45 

alone. I sank upon the grass, aucl listened to the ex- 
quisite siughig of the birds. ... I felt as though I was 
just born into a most beautiful world. I went to my bed, 
which was made of roses, and laid myself upon it, and 
in a dreamy state of happiness fell asleep." 

" I dressed myself, and went into my garden. I saw 
all kinds of tempting fruit hanging upon the trees. . . . 
I took some of the fruit, and eat it. It was the first time 
I had tasted sjnritual food!" "When I rose to the 
seventh sphere, I had but one guide, who carried a lamp." 
Probably to find the "opening" through which they 
were obliged to pass.* ("Supernal Theology.") Sweden- 
borg's experience in the spirital world having been so 
extensive and varied, we are loath to part with so valu- 
able a witness, and hence will quote again from him, as 
written through the mediamship of Dr. Dexter. He is 
again describing the beauties of the sixth sphere : 

" The newness of everything impressed me with de- 
light. The air was pure, and the whole heavens were 
clear and bright beyond all comparison. I saw no dif- 
ference in the sky, except in its brightness and purity ; 
and on looking abroad on the earth I could detect no dif- 
ference in its appearance from our earth, except in the 
heavenly beauty and harmony in tlie arrangement of 
the landscape. The trees, the rocks and mountains, the 
flowers and birds, the gushing torrents and murmuring 
rivulets, the oceans and rivers, man, woman, and child, 
all passed before me." " We occupy earth, — tangible, 
positive earth, — as much as your earth ; but the advanced 
state of both spirit and locality renders it unnecessary 
for us to labor much to obtain food for the support of our 



* " lu rising to the spheres, there are openings through which we rise.' 
— Supernal Theology, vii. 



46 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

bodies. Then, again, the earth brings forth spontane- 
ouslj most of the food required for our bodies. Ad- 
vanced spirits do not require as much food as those who 
are below them. — Spiritualism, sec. xv. 

The " clear vision " of the seer is in accord with these 
angelic visitors. Andrew Jackson Davis reports as fol- 
lows the result of his personal observations. " The 
Spirit Land ! What do you mean by these terms ? 
Something figurative, or something literal ? I mean a 
substantial world ; a sphere similar in constitution to 
this world, only in every conceivable respect one degree 
superior to the best planet in our solar system. 

"What is the external appearance of the Spirit Land? 

"It appears like a beautiful morning! The surface is 
diversified endlessly, with valleys, rivers, hills, mountains, 
and innumerable parks. These parks are particularly 
attractive. The ten thousand varieties of flowers lend a 
peculiar prismatic charm to the far-extending territories, 
and the soft divine ether in which the entire world is 
bathed surpasses all conception." — Present Age and 
Inner Life, p. 273. 

The illustrious band of " spirits" who made the Ban- 
ner of Light Free Circle their headquarters are no less 
explicit. Cardinal Cheverus is the respondent. 

" Ques. — It is said that the spiritual body possesses all 
the organs of the physical body, and that there is nothing 
without use. If this be the case, of what use to the spirit are 
the teeth and stomach ? Do spirits eat food, masticating 
and digesting it, and passing it out of the system, in the 
spirit-world, as we do in this ? If not, of what use are 
■ the internal organs? 

"Ans. — The spirit-body possesses all the organs known 
to the natural body, and all the attributes, all the func- 
tions, known to the natural body, and more also ; for at 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 4'[ 

each successive step in progress the spirit has need of 
new functions, new attributes, and the divine Providence 
provides for all it hath need of. Yes, the spirit hath a 
stomach, has teeth, and uses them. Spirits have need 
to eat, as you have. They do not subsist upon nothing. 
Here you are in the rudimental state of spirit-life, and 
here you eat. These spirits dwell in a more refined state, 
but there they eat also. Receive and give is the order of 
nature, divine and human. Therefore all the processes 
by which progress is carried on here, are known also and 
made use of in the spirit-world." — B. of L., August 14, 
1869. 

On another occasion, when Theodore Parker was pre- 
siding, we have additional testimony. " (As each "spirit" is 
only responsible for his own utterances, I desire to submit 
quotations from those whose utterances are deemed most 
authoritative, for, of course, the views of the medium are 
immaterial.) 

"Qiies. — Different answers have been given as to 
whether spirit-animals exist in the spirit-world. What in- 
formation would you give with reference to that question ? 

"Ans. — There are spheres in the spirit-world where no 
animals exist ; there are others where they do exist ; but 
the sphere in which they are found most plentiful is that 
which is contiguous to your earth,. — that which forms the 
inner sphere, or spirit-circle of your earth. These animals 
are a necessity to the inhabitants of the spheres in which 
they are found ; they are not a necessity where they are 
not found. 

"Q. — In more advanced spiritual spheres there is spir- 
itual scenery ; they have trees and plants, why not ani- 
mals ? We should consider the animal kingdom higher 
than the vegetable. 

"J. — You say, in our 'more advanced spheres.' These 



48 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

conditions exist in all spheres. We do not know why 
spirits are not found in all spheres, but we know they are 
not; no more than tropical flowers bloom in frigid zones. 
They are not a necessity there." — B. of L., April 6, 1872. 

Rabbi Lowenthal, through Mrs. Conant, describes a 
" spiritual home" as " dwellings surrounded by the beau- 
tiful in nature, perhaps by trees, water, shrubbery, flowers. 
All that goes to make up a beautiful rural home here 
generally constitutes the beauty of a spiritual home." 
— B. of L., August 10, 1872. Father Fitz-James, another 
member of the " band," declares that all the various secret 
orders and fraternities existing among us " are perpetu- 
ated in the spirit-world, and all the various modes of pro- 
tection against fraud, through outsiders, exist there as 
here."— 5. of L., June 8, 1872. 

The "communications" from the spirit-world published 
recently under the title of " Strange Visitors," embracing 
articles on philosophy, science, government, and religion, 
from Irving, "Willis, Thackeray, Richter, Humboldt, Sir 
David Brewster, and others, give us the same crass con- 
ception of spiritual existence. Margaret Fuller commu- 
nicates an essay on "Literature in Spirit-Life." Pro- 
fessor Olmsted informs us of the " Locality of the Spirit- 
World ;" Edward Everett contributes his more matured 
views on "Government;" Professor Bush discourses 
pleasantly on " Life ami Marriage in Spirit-Life ;" W. E. 
Burton informs us concerning " Acting in Spirit-Life ;" 
and Charles B. Elliott tells us what he knows of " Paint- 
ing in Spirit-Life.' We have in this volume minute 
descriptions of " spiritual" architecture ; and from the 
pen, if my memory serves me right, of jST. P. Willis, we 
have a pen-and-ink sketch of a spiritual entertainment, 
where "spiritual" guests were served by "spiritual" 
waiters with " spiritual" food ! 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 49 

Andrew Jackson Davis has given the world some most 
soarchiuy criticisms and earnest rebukes of this grosser 
form of spiritism now so prevalent. His powerful pro- 
tests against spasmodic and phenomenal spiritism entitle 
him to the highest respect as an independent thinker. 
Xo writer, however, has materialized spirit more com- 
pletely than Mr. Davis. In his work, ''The Stellar Key;' 
we find the same eiTor most grossly expressed : 

"Until you come to perceive and comprehend these 
grand progressive truths, namely : that the solid world 
was once fluid ; that fluid was once vapor ; that vapor 
was once ether ; that ether was once essence ; thatessence 
is the highest material coyinecting link for the operation 
of positive spiritual laws; that these natural inherent 
laws constitute a negative medium for the manifestation 
of invisible celestial positive force ; that this force is the 
negative side of a yet more positive expression, called 
power ; that this last potential demonstration is animated 
by interior intelligence and more positive energies, termed 
principles ; that these immutable principles of the universe 
are external methods of positive and still more interior 
ideas; that ideas are the self-thinking, inter-intelligent, 
])urely spiritual attributes and properties of the Drvine 
Positive Mind." (P. 90.) 

Are these the distinguishing characteristics of spiritual 
existence? The aspirations of the human mind are insa- 
tiable, ever ascending and approaching the attainment 
of higher and more spiritual development. Spiritual 
progression is more than the removal of the form from 
one material sphere into another; more than an entrance 
through an "opening" to another physical existence. 
The dying words of that highly-gifted and representa- 
tive man, Goethe. " 3Iore light;' are the soul's truest 
utterances, even though encased in a worn-out and 
c 5 



50 THE SPIRITUAL DELUS[::N. 

enfeebled body, nearly ready to crumble into the dust. 
In the revelations made by the "spirits" we find no 
conception of true spirituality. Their arrangements of 
spheres, one rising above the other, with trap-door en- 
trances, differ only in material aspect. The soul of man 
has higher and nobler aspirations than can be gratified 
with such crude conceptions. 

The mind gives out its own phenomena without 
itself appearing, and originates in no previous phe- 
nomenal compound. It is not phenomenal, a state of 
some other things, but has its own successive states, 
while it perdures through them all. Nor is it ideal ; for 
that presupposes a mind to construct the ideal, and the 
mind perdures through all its ideal constructions. All 
mental action is conditional to some object or end of ac- 
tion. There must be the agent acting, and the object or 
end of action, and the mind discriminates between them 
and assigns to each its own distinct identity. Its acts 
only appear in consciousness ; and while its own succes- 
sive states come and go, that still remains a something 
that produces them, which does not come and go. The 
mind lives under the act, and is a ground for it. Its 
agency is its own and originates its own causality. 
What mind is, remains an unsolved problem ; and while 
we may have reason to conclude that it is not neces- 
sarily dependent upon the physical organization, but 
may survive it, we cannot picture to ourselves the con- 
ditions of its independent existence. To speak of mind, 
soul, and spirit as three distinct entities has no warrant 
in true spiritual philosophy. The desire of man to 
understand mental existence has necessarily led to phy- 
sical expressions of it ; living in a world of sense, we 
can apprehend only after its methods ; but to assume 
that these expressions of mental existence are absolutely 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 51 

correct would lead auy thoughtful uiiud to believe iu 
materialism undisguised with pseudo-spiritualism. 

Matter and mind should not be confounded ; and their 
capacities cannot be judged from the sanje stand-point. 
Matter is but the outward form of existence. " The ani- 
mal is built up, not by masonry from without, but by an 
organific power within, till he roams forth the elBgy of the 
instinct that animates and rules him." But to attempt 
to bring this "organific power" within the compass of 
physiological laws as a physiological entity is more than 
we have any warrant for in philosophy. 

As well talk of the form of thought, the weight of love, 
or the solidity of the affections, as to theorize on the at- 
tenuation of spirit. They are materialistic who assert the 
correlation of things so distinct, so opposed to each other, 
both in essence and function, through " the material con- 
necting links" of essences, laws, and principles. To term 
such crassitude of thought and imbecile jargon spiritual- 
ism par excellence is emphatically unphilosophical. 

2. In Ua confusion of distinctions between phijsical and 
spiritual realms of being. 

The confusion of thought thus indicated pervades all 
spiritistic literature. Warren Chase, of the Banner of 
Light, asserts thought and love to be material substance.s. 
Dr. P. B. Randolph has treated of love in the same sense 
as a physician would of bile, as a material secretion. 
A lecturer advertises in the Banner of Light a course 
of lectures, the last of which has the following title, 
" Spiritualism and Materialism "[Incontradictory," and 
adds, " As I am a thorough spiritualist, as well as a 
thorough infidel, I offer the last lecture as an alternative 
to those infidels who are also spiritualists. "^= 

* November 9, 1872. 



52 TEE SPIRITUAL DELI S!ON. 

Spirital beings are described as of different degrees of 
grossness. " As they progress, they leave their grosser 
part from sphere to sphere;" but in each successive 
sphere we find cottages and husbandmen, palaces and 
privileged classes, those who serve and those who are 
waited upon. However " sublimated and etherealized" 
their bodies may be, still, as we have seen, they possess 
all the organs and functions of the physical body, and 
they can influence, control, or "obsess" mortals. In 
what manner are we controlled by these hybrid beings ? 
Their material organism is too " sublimated and ethereal- 
ized" to affect us physically, and their spiritual nature is 
too trammeled with bodily organization to have any in- 
fluence on us spiritually. They pass through the most 
solid substances without leaving a trace of their presence, 
yet delight in physical manifestations. If they are 
spiritual, what influence can they wield over physical 
forces ? how handle or direct electricity, magnetism, or 
psychic force ? If they are mateyHal, as claimed, then 
their "influence" is a material influence, and no evidence 
of spiritual existence ; for they are not from a distinct 
sphere of existence. If we are influenced by spiritual 
beings, it must be through our spiritual natures, and not 
through our physical nerves ; the communication aiust 
come direct to the mind which, by the attainment of 
higher spirituality, has been drawn nearer to the spiritual 
world, to which our souls are ever attracted in their 
highest moments, nearer to the fount of all spiritual 
truth, closer in soul-relation with the higher realms, of 
thought and existence. This is an inward, a subjective 
experience ; not an outward, physical event induced by 
sitting at a table and harmonizing nerves and will. 

God occupies an anomalous position in spirital theology. 
While assuming to be pantheistic, it bears no relation- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 53 

ship with the profound spiritualism of Spinoza, and looks 
pityingly on the "crude" views of Carlyle and Emerson. 
Swedenborg had some reputation while " in earth-life" 
of being versed in metaphysical philosophy, and the 
added years of experience and study in the highest 
spheres should lead us to expect his contributions to 
religious thought to be fraught with wisdom ; yet, if we 
may believe Judge Edmonds, Swedenborg is capable 
of uttering the following unphilosophical expressions : 
" When the mind attempts to separate spirit from matter, 
it has no just conception of spirit. Therefore we can- 
not invest the Creator with form or personality. What 
sort of f)erson would God be if the /orm depended upon 
the idea of man ? The form would resemble that of 
man: as he is supposed to be the image of the Being 
who created him. There is no point from which an idea 
can be formed; and if, with all the various attributes 
with which the Creator is invested, there is but one point 
from which any resemblance could be traced, how utterly 
does the mind fiiil in carrying out this connection other 
than through the whole of God's manifestations of him- 
self through his w^orks ! But the condition of matter 
necessary for such an amalgamation must be unknown to 
us as well as to you ; for if the idenfification of spirit 
xvith matter were unfolded to your minds, the whole 
mystery of the Great First Cause would be understood." 
— Spiritualism, sect. xxxi. 

The above extract is not given to show that spirital 
theology is pantheistic, but to show the effect of spirital 
knowledge on the mind of Swedenborg, — that he, of all 
men, can return and commit so glaring an error as to 
confound form with personality, to speak of them as if 
they were identical or correlative in thought. We are 
told that God is a " Germ,"— the " Universal Germ." 

5* 



54 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" In short, God exists as a principle ;" and it is added, 
" The soul of man is a part of God," — a finite edition of 
an infinite " Germ ;" too often an unprincipled portion 
of the omnipresent "principle." The following passage 
from Judge Edmonds's work on " Spiritualism" will most 
fully illustrate the confusion of thought existing among 
spiritists, and will need no comment: 

"In short, God exists as a principle, . . . still resolv- 
ing itself into direct and pertinent manifestations of the 
incomprehensible specialties of his nature. . . . God is 
the very spirit of life in everything; and it is eternally 
at work, sublimating and progressing every particle of 
matter, from the rudest form to its ultimate end, the im- 
mortal spirit of man !" 

" The universal germ" is made more intelligible by being 
described as " pervading essence" with moral attributes 1 

In this same volume are communications from- " my 
Lord Bacon" and "Daniel Webster," and heralded as 
"profound" contributions to modern thought.* "Daniel 

a- « Truly, if any man, who erer read ten lines of Bacon or one treat- 
ise of the thoughtful Swede, can believe that either of those men could 
have perpetrated, even in their school-boy days, such rhapsodical in- 
anities as are there fathered upon their far-progressed spirits, — certainly 
credulity can no farther go, and never was known to go so far before. 

" It cannot be said in this case, in order that the ' reader may find no 
difficulty in extricating his mind from doubts,' that it is 'an unwarrant- 
able thing to look for instruction much superior to the mental development 
of the medium ;' because, in the first place, these were reckoned ra.ther un- 
commonly wise men while 'in the form/ and their spirits are now far 
progressed; and in the next place, the communications are kept clear of 
the mind of the medium, and only come through his arm. There remain, 
therefore, for all minds not precommitted to credulity, but two possible 
methods of solution of this diflSculty, — the moral and intellectual ab- 
surdity involved in the asserted authorship of these communications : 
one is to suppose that these spirits were 'falsely personated,' and the 
other is to recur to the theory of Synesius, already referred to, and to 
suppose that the brain-dribble of the medium himself flowed down 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 55 

Webster" is responsible for the following: "When we 
say light, we mean the pure essence of God that the sun 
reflects into your system. It is fraught with the life 
eternal ; is the secret of your happiness, and the cause of 
your existence. . . . The partial obscuration of light at 
night is for the resting of spirits." What terrible ma- 
terialists our coal-miners and coal-consumers must be ! for 
science has taught us to look upon coal as the tangible 
form of the solar rays " reflected into our system" mil- 
lions of years ago, and they have calmly consumed count- 
less tons of " pure essence" to satisfy material wants 1 

In their moral philosophy w^e find the same confusion 
of thought, — a failure to discriminate between the relative 
and the absolute. "Whatever is, is right," is regarded as 
an axiom, and, frequently held wnth the lowest and most 
depraved conceptions, is urged as an excuse for the most 
flagrant violations of the law of Right and Duty, which 
notwithstanding exists in humanity, and is ever mani- 
festing itself when not followed. 

" Powers there are 
That touch each other to the quick, in modes 
Which the gross world no sense has to perceive;" 

and to attempt the task by talking of Germs and Prin- 
ciples indifferently as he and it, or correlating Laws and 
Ideas by " the material connecting link" of Essences, is 
an unphilosophical confusion of 

" The seen and the unseen, 
The world of matter and the world of spirit." 



through his arm upon the paper. Incredulous men will adopt, som-e one 
and some the other, of these solutions: for myself, I profess my most re- 
ligious belief in the latter." — ApoeatastasU, or Progress Backwards (Bur- 
lington, Vt., 1854), p. 170. 



56 ■ THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

3. In its claim of higher spirituality for rejuvenated 
polytheism. 

It has already lioen sufficiently shown that the only 
conception of the spiritual beings possessed by spiritists 
is that of " etherealized" material beings. God is a 
" Germ," indifferently termed he or it. Prayer is re- 
garded as a vain attempt to change the purposes of an 
imaginary deity ; destitute themselves of the faintest ru- 
diments of spiritual perception, they can view it in no 
other light than that of offering advice or entreating 
material benefits. Spiritual truth is never attained 
through outward observances, and those who are truly 
spiritual never attempt to make these the means to that 
end. Spiritual truth is perceived from within, and true 
souls have lived in all ages who have been able to obtain 
glimpses of the higher life and its eternal realities. Not 
to allude to any whose names have become tiresome to 
spiritists rejoicing in the light of a New Dispensation, 
we will quote from Buddha, as one that obtained a few 
such glimpses even in his day, long before the tide of pro- 
gression had reached the high-water mark indicated by 
modern spirital literature and " inspirational" lecturers. 

The future sXaie-^ Nirvana — is thus described by 
Buddha : 

" The wind cannot be squeezed in the hand, nor can its 
color be told ; yet the wind is. Even so Nirvana is, but 
its properties cannot be told." 

"Nirvana, like space, is causeless, does not live nor 
die, and has no locality." 

" Nirvana is not, except to the being who attains it." 
" Nirvana is real, all else is phenomenal." 
In that remote day this was regarded as very fair 
spiritual philosophy; but the waves of " progression" have 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 5^ 

borne us very far from it, to reach, in modern spiritism, 
" tlie spiritual philosophy of the nineteenth century," 
with its Demosthenes orators and Benjamin Franklin 
editors ! Phenomenal spiritists are as deaf to the signifi- 
cance of these words of Buddha as they are to the spirit 
of the scientific thought of the age in which they live, 
move, and have at least a physical being. No " mysti- 
cism" will meet the requirements of their ardent souls. 
Their inner natures revolt from the " dry husks" of the 
past, and crave demonstrative evidence and a present 
intimate knowledge of the beautiful fields and fruitful 
orchards that lie on the other side of the " pearl-strand 
shore." 

Although a distinguished itinerant orator has protested 
against the supposition that " spirits" are more than 
" men and women with their jackets off," still the greater 
body of spiritists do regard them in a far higher sense. 
They are supposed to inform us of approaching personal 
calamities; therefore, if true, we must accord them the 
power of reading the future by other means than by those 
aff<)rded by the study of the past. Death is foreseen, and 
the exact moment of departure revealed to the interested 
individual : though death be the result of accident, the 
prescient mind of the " spirit" beholds it as plainly as we 
do the past. Their power over physical laws — a power, 
as we have seen, incapable of being reduced to a scien- 
tific knowledge of its extent or controlling laws — raises 
them higher than mere jacketless men and women, unless 
the chemistry of death effects some marvelous transfor- 
mation in us ; and this is not admitted by spiritists. 

" Congres!>es of spirits," says J. M. Peebles {alias The 

Spiritual Pilgrim), "'conceived the plan of laying the 

corner-stone of this late spiritual movement. . . . The 

propelling powers were spirits, -angels, heavenly hosts, 

c* 



58 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

and Grod himself." "Congresses," "World-builders," 
neuter " Germs ;" are not these the indications of polythe- 
istic thought rather than of spiritual philosophy ? In 
fact, the spiritists themselves glory in the points of resem- 
blance between their system and ancient polytheism. 
" The Spiritual Pilgrim" wrote his " Seers of the Ages" 
to maintain this resemblance. A recent writer in the 
Banner of Light (of Nov. 9, 1812) makes the following 
declaration : 

" Is phenomenal spiritualism a reality ? In Hindo- 
stau, Egypt, and Greece, several thousand years ago, 
phenomenal spiritualism bore a striking resemblance to 
that of the present day. The statues and images repre- 
senting what are termed the heathen gods and goddesses 
were in reality statues erected to the memory of their 
great men who had departed from the earth-sphere. They 
were made instrumental for obtaining spirit-manifesta- 
tions, by the aid of mediums (priestesses), as at present. 
But we have no space to devote to this department, and 
hasten," etc., etc. 

Willing to be made " instrumental" in imparting in- 
telligence to our spiritist friends, a few instances of these 
ancient manifestations are here described for their benefit. 
Tacitus gives a description of the celebrated oracle at the 
fountain of Colophon, from which we extract the follow- 
ing: "There is not a woman here, as at Delphi, but a 
priest is elected from certain families, and mostly from 
Miletus, who is informed only of the name and number 
of those who come to consult the Oracle. He then retires 
into the cavern, and, drinking of the secret fountain, 
though ignorant generally of letters and poetry, he de- 
livers responses, in verse, to whatever mental questions 
any one has in his mind." — Annal., lib. ii. Here we ob- 
serve several " striking resemblances," not only in the 



THE SPIRITUAL D EL US 10 X. 



59 



"manifestations," but in the character of the medium 
as well. 

Let us continue our quotations. Herodotus relates 
the following : " Then was performed a great miracle. 
F'or Mus, as is related by the Thebaus, having visited 
various oracles, came to the temple of Apollo Ptoi. 
There followed him three men publicly selected by the 
Thebans for the purpose of recording the responses 
which might be given. But on arriving at the temple 
they were astonished to hear the priestess answer in some 
foreign language, instead of speaking Greek, so that they 
had nothing to do. Whereupon Mus, taking from them 
their tablets, wrote down the responses of the Oracle ; 
and, having made the record, he departed."— f7rania. 
Considering that this was nearly twenty-five hundred 
years before the present "progressed" age, we must 
admit it was a very creditable " manifestation," and, were 
it not contrary to the idea of "progression," we might 
be led to regard it as more demo7istrative than modern 
Flashes of Light. 

As reincarnation is taught by modern "spirits," we 
may fancy that in the following extract from the geog- 
rapher Strabo we have some information concerning 
the medium Home in his former state of existence: 
" Under Mount Soracte is the town of Feronia, which 
is also the name of the goddess of the place, who is 
held in great honor there. There is also a grove of 
Feronia, in which are performed sacred rites of a very 
wonderful kind. For those possessed by this daemon walk 
with naked feet over burning coals and hot ashes, with- 
out suffering any injurious effects from the fire." Lib. v. 

" Spirit-forms" were also plainly discernible in that 
unprogressed age, and were made the subject of "scien- 
tific investigation." Porphyry gave evidence of possess- 



60 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ing a critical spirit when he asked, " What is the indica- 
tion of a god, or angel, or archangel, or demon, or a 
cerlain archon, or a soul, being present ? For to speak 
boastingly, aud to exhibit a phantasm of a certain quality, 
is common to gods and demons, and to all the more ex- 
cellent genera." But the. spirital philosophers were 
equal to the emergency ; and the following scientific de- 
scription and analysis of the manifestations was offered 
by lamblichus, — a most competent authority and careful 
" investigator :" 

" The phantasms, or luminous appearances, of the 
gods are uniform; those of demons are various; . . . 
those of souls are all various. And the phasmata in- 
deed of the gods will be seen shining with a salutary 
light ; those of archangels will be terrible ; those of 
angels more mild ; those of demons will be dreadful ; 
those of heroes are milder than those of demons ; those 
of arehons produce astonishment; and those of souls 
are similar to the heroic phasmata. The phasmata of 
the gods are entirely immutable according to magnitude, 
form, and figure ; those of archangels fall short in same- 
ness; those of demons are at different times seen in a 
different form, and appear at one time great and at 
another time small, yet are still recognized to be the phas- 
mata of demons ; and those of souls imitate in no small 
degree! the demoniacal mutations. ... In the forms of 
the gods which are seen by the eyes, the most clear 
spectacles of truth are perceived ; the images of demons 
are obscure; . . . and the images of souls appear to 
be of a shadowy form. Again, the fire of the gods 
appears to be entirely stable ; that of archangels is 
tranquil ; but that of angels is stably moved. The fire 
of demons is unstable ; but that of heroes is, for the 
most part, rapidly moved. The fire of those arehons 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 61 

that are of the first rank is tranquil, but of those that 
are of the last order is tumultuous ; aud the tire of souls 
is transmuted in a multitude of motions." 

Here we have the testimony of one who has both used 
ills eyes and mental faculties to some purpose, and has 
svsiematized the phenomena and orders of spirital beings, 
so that we may recot>nize each at once and determine 
the nature of the "influence." Here, also, we observe a 
more thorough acquaintance with the spirital world; for 
in ancient times communications from, and apparitions 
of, gods and demons, archangels and angels, heroes and 
archons, and, last in the scale, souls, were common 
events. Our modern " investigators" have only as yet 
recognized three classes, " spirits, angels, and heavenly 
hosts," and remain in entire ignorance of the superior 
powers known to the ancients, that manifested with their 
own particular " luminous appearance," as described above 
by lamblichus. Let us continue our reference to this 
authority in things spirital, and observe the great bene- 
fit derived from understanding the characteristics of the 
spirital forms, and the danger of neglecting such a scien- 
tific classification of facts : 

" That, however, which is the greatest thing is this, 
— that he who draws down a certain divinity sees a 
spirit descending and entering into some one, recognizes 
its magnitude and quality ; and from this spectacle, the 
greatest truth and power of the god, and especially the 
order he possesses, as likewise about what particulars 
he is adapted to speak the truth, what the power is 
which he imparts, and what he is able to effect, become 
known to the scientijic.''^ 

Sjiirital science has yet much to accomplish to even 
regain what was known two thousand years ago, it 
would seem, when the above particulars could be de- 

6 



62 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

termined at sight. Our " progression" must have been 
in a backward direction, as we may partly glean from 
the following, taken from the same scientific work, "On 
Mysteries :" " For when a certain error happens in the 
theurgic art, and not such autopic or self-visible images 
are seen as ought to occur, but others instead of these, 
then inferior powers assume the form of the more ven- 
erable orders, and pretend to he those whose forms they 
assume ; and hence arrogant words are uttered by them, 
and such as exceed the authority they possess. . . . 
Much falsehood is derived from the perversion which it 
is necessary the priests should learn from the whole 
order of the phasmata, by the proper observation of 
which they are able to confute and reject the fictitious 
pretexts of those inferior powers, as by no means per- 
taining to true and good spirits." 

Where now is the shade of lamblichus ? If Demos- 
thenes can again thrill the hearts of men with his elo- 
quence, and St. John hold sweet converse with " the 
Spiritual Pilgrim,"— if Joshua and Samuel have their 
latest word for sale at the Banner of Light counter, and 
Plato responds to Dr. Dresser in New York,— why can we 
not have the pleasure of hearing from lamblichus again, 
and be kept from the danger of being misled by de- 
ceiving "inferior powers," from whom the -very " elect" 
are not secure ? Is it that this ancient sage is so thor- 
oughly disgusted with the present management of the 
" theurgic art" that he will have none of it ? or has he 
become reincarnated in human form, perhaps in the 
Jovian world ? It is sad to think we have so deterior- 
ated from the ancient standard, as is evidenced by the 
declaration of our seer that " it is an unwarrantable thing 
to look for perfect wisdom, or for instruction much above 
the mental development of the medium" ! 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 63 

Lucian informs us that the statue of Apollo in Syria, 
when neglected, would sweat and come forth into the 
room ; and once in his presence, when borne by the 
priests, " he left them below upon the ground, w^hile he him- 
self was borne aloft and alone in the air." lamblichus in- 
forms us that " to be borne along sublimely in the air" was 
one of the ordinary indications of inspiration iu his day. 

One more reference to ancient spiritism, and we will 
resume our study of its modern counterpart. Philos- 
tratus, in his life of Apollonius Tyanensis (book iii., 
c. 15, n), relates this striking physical manifestation : 

" ' / have seen,'' said Apollonius, ' the Brahmins of 
India dwelling on the earth and not on the earth, living 
fortified without fortifications, possessing nothing and yet 
everything.' This he spoke somewhat enigmatically; 
but Damis says they sleep upon the ground, but that the 
earth furnishes them with a grassy couch of whatever 
plants they desire. That he himself had seen them, ele- 
vated two cubits above the surface of the earth, walk in 
the air ! not for the purpose of display [these were the 
ancient mediums, remember], which was quite foreign to 
the character of the men, but because whatever they did, 
elevated, in common with the sun, above the earth, would 
be more acceptable to the Deity. . , . Having bathed, 
they formed a choral circle, having larchus for their 
coryphaeus, and, striking the earth with their divining- 
rods, it rose up, — no otherwise than does the sea under 
the power of the wind, — and caused them to ascend into 
the air .'" 

Did space permit, we should see all the phenomena 
recorded in ancient writers, and, unfortunately for tlie 
theory of "progression," far exceeding the records in our 
spirital papers. Mediums were then encircled with a 
luminous halo, and " spirit-forms" were each accompanied 



64 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

by a peculiar spirital spectrum, enabling us to immediately 
recognize their social standing and character for veracity. 
Voices were heard speaking from statues, musical mani- 
festations abounded, and trumpets were then, as now, 
receptacles of spiritual truth. Suspension in the air, not 
only of mediums, but of statues and other inert bodies, 
was of common occurrence. All the various phases of 
the trance M^ere well known, and spirital beings mani- 
fested without the aid of a medium, producing spirital 
writing and singing. Answering mental questions, and 
speaking in foreign tongues, were " tests" to many an 
anxious "investigator ;" and, to carry out the " striking 
resemblances," many of the learned of that age regarded 
the revelations in the same light as their successors in 
this. Cicero said, " Some of them are the merest fiction, 
some, inconsiderate babble, never of any authority with a 
man of even moderate capacity." This conclusion bears 
a "striking resemblance" to that of Professor Huxley, 
who says, " But supposing the phenomena to be genu- 
ine, they do not interest me. If anybody would endow 
me with the faculty of listening to the chatter of old 
women and curates in the nearest cathedral town, I 
should decline the privilege, having better things to do. 
And if the folks in the spiritual world do not talk more 
wisely and sensibly than their friends report them to do, 
I put them in the same category.. The only good I can 
see in a demonstration of the truth of ' spiritualism' is to 
furnish an additional argument against suicide. Better 
live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to twaddle 
by a medium hired at a guinea a seance .'" 

However deficient in a clear apprehension of the 
" theurgic art " our modern spiritists may be, some of 
them seem determined not to be outdone in the matter 
of marvelous relations. Take the following illustrations 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 65 

as a few out of many to be met with in spirital literature, 
and undoubtedly quite as authentic as any related of Apol- 
lonius. In tlie English edition of the biography of the 
Davenport brothers, by a Mr. Nichols, we may read the 
following " well-attested manifestation :" 

" The strange event which took place is variously 
vouched for; but I have preferred to take the facts from 
the lips of Mr. Ira Davenport, the elder of the two brothers. 
He says he was walking one evening in the streets of 
Buffalo, with his brother William, this being the winter 
of 1853-4, and the boys in their twelfth and fourteenth 
years. 

"Here Ira's recollection ceases. The next thing he 
knew was that he found himself and his brother in a snow- 
bank in a field, with no tracks near him, near his grand- 
father's house, at Mayville, Chautauqua County, New 
York, aixty miles from Buffalo. On waking up William, 
who had not returned to consciousness, they made their 
way to their grandfather's house, where they were received 
with surprise and their story heard with astonishment. 
Their father was immediately informed by telegraph of 
their safety and whereabouts ; and he, good obstinate 
man, set himself to find out how they got to Mayville. 
On inquiry, he found that no railway-train could have 
taken them, after the hour they left home, more than a 
portion of the distance, and the conductors on the road 
knew the boys, and had not seen them. 'John' declared 
through the trumpet, after their return home, that he had 
transported them." 

If it were not for the express declaration made by 
"John" that he had caused this wonderful flight, we 
should be tempted to believe that the "spirit" Was no 
other than the lamented Peter Schlemihl, quondam pos- 
sessor of the celebrated seveu-league boots, concerning 

G* 



66 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



whicli we have read in more youthful days in an equally 
veracious history. In the American edition of the above 
work the foregoing narrative appears in a somewhat 
different form : being nearer home, and with, perhaps, the 
entirely unnecessary precaution of not " spreading it on 
too thick," we find that one of the brothers was transported 
across the Niagara River into a snow-bank on the Canada 
side. Reducing the number one-half, and the miles from 
sixty to two or three, would of course make the story 
seem less miraculous and more credible. 

The writer has read descriptions of hundreds of mani- 
festations, and witnessed scores, but for demonstrative 
purposes the following is yielded the palm, and com- 
mended to all inquiring minds anxious for spirital evi- 
dence. Nichols is again our authority : 

" The room was not darkened, only obscured to a pleas- 
ant twilight. After several of the usual phenomena were 
exhibited, the two boys were raised from their chairs, 
carried across the room, and held up, with their heads 
downwards, before a window. ' We distinctly saw,' says 
an eye-witness, ' two gigantic hands attached to about three- 
fifths of a monstrous arm, and those hands grasped the 
ankles of the two boys, and thus held the lads, heels up 
and heads downwards, before the window, now raising, 
now lowering them, till their heads bade fair to make 
acquaintance with the carpet on the floor !' This curious 
but assuredly not dignified exhibition was several times 
repeated, and was plainly seen by every person present. 
Among these persons was an eminent physician. Dr. 
Blanchard, then of Buffalo, now of Chicago, Illinois, who 
was sitting on a chair by the side of Elizabeth Davenport ; 
and all present saw an immense arm, attached to no ap- 
parent body, growing as it were out of space, glide along 
near the floor'till it reached Dr. Blanchard's chair, when 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 61 

the hand grasped the lower back-round of Elizabeth's 
chair, raised it from the floor with the child upon it, bal- 
anced it, and then raised it to the ceiling. The chair and 
the child remained in the air, without contact with any 
person or thing, for a space of time estimated to be a min- 
ute, and then descended graduall}^ to the place it first 
occupied." 

This demonstrative proof of immortality is deemed 
worthy of pi-eservation in the American edition, where it 
may be seen with a full-page illustration of the brothers 
held in the arm, thus rendering assm-ance doubly sure. 
As this two-handed arm could not possibly have been 
one belonging to a jacketless man or woman, we may safely 
conjecture it must have been the personal property of one 
of Professor Lyon's " world-builders " who had graci- 
ously consented to aid the manifestations with his supe- 
rior powers. We cannot, however, regard it as so much 
of a condescension, after all, for in thousands of " circles" 
the expenditure of a small amount of fractional currency 
may secure us the ineffable happiness of having our limbs 
pinched by Benjamin Franklin, in his moments of editorial 
relaxation, while George Washington tips the table ! 

Daniel Dunglas Home, whose aerial flights and spirital 
elongations have made his name familiar with all, mani- 
fested his mediumistic powers at an early age, if we may 
credit his biography. We there find the following: 

" On the 26th April, Old Style, or 8th May, according 
to our style, at seven in the evening, and as the snow 
was fast falling, our little boy was born in the town- 
house, situate on the Gagarines Quay, in St. Petersburg, 
where we were still staying. A few hours after his 
.birth, his mother, the nurse, and I heard for several 
hours the warbling of a bird, as if singing over him. 
Also, that night, and for two or three nights afterwards, 



68 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

a bright starlike light, which was clearly visible from 
the partial darkness of the room, in which there was only 
a night-lamp burning, appeared several times directly 
over its head, where it remained for some moments, and 
then slowly moved in the direction of the door, where it 
disappeared. This was also seen by each of us at the 
same time. The light was more condensed than those 
which have been so often seen in my presence upon 
previous and subsequent occasions : it was brighter and 
more distinctly globular." 

The papers of Macon, Ga., during the month of Oc- 
tober, 1872, gave long accounts of certain strange occur- 
rences said to have taken place at a house not far from 
that city, on the Macon and Brunswick Railroad. Though 
" supernatural manifestations" have been more or less 
frequent for the past twenty years, it is only lately that 
the phenomena have become so violent. As this account 
is so recent, and so characteristic of modern polytheism, 
a report of it, not from a spiritistic source, may not be 
unwelcome. A reporter of the Telegraph and Messenger 
(Macon, Ga.) visited the scene of these phenomena, and 
from his account the extracts below are taken : 

" Mr. Surreucy's house is a two-story frame house, 
plastered and weather-boarded. Mr. Surrency, on re- 
turning home Thursday, the 10th instant [October, 1812], 
was astonished to observe the glass goblets begin to 
tumble off the slab, and the crockery to roll from the 
table and, falling on the floor, break into atoms. Books, 
brickbats, pieces of wood, smoothing-irons, biscuits, po- 
tatoes, tin pans, buckets, pitchers, and numerous oiher 
articles flew about the house pron)iscuously, without any 
visible cause. They seemed to spring up involuntarily^ 
and often were never seen to move until they were shat- 
tered at the feet or against the wall. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 69 

" Late in the afturuoou, while all the iumates of the 
house were at their supper, a uoise was heard in an ad- 
joining room. A gentleman was promptly at the door, 
the windows were all secured, and it was impossible for 
any one to escape without being observed. Presently 
a book fell in the passage, which only a few moments 
previous was certainly seen in the bookcase. 

" On Monday the manifestations were again renewed 
in a more wonderful and frightful manner. While a 
company of ladies and gentlemen were seated in one of 
the rooms of the house, a hog suddenly appeared in the 
viiddle of the floor, and, without the slightest manifesta- 
tion of fear, executed a few manoeuvres and evolutions, 
when it quickly retreated to an adjoining room, where, in 
full view of the company, it suddenly vanished, like a 
ghostly apparition." 

An apology may be deemed necessary for presenting 
the above ; but such recitals as these compose the great 
bulk of " accredited manifestations," and are greedily 
swallowed by spiritists as " tests" of sj)iritual com- 
munion! If all that is absurd or contemptible in the 
subject were omitted, there could be no examination of 
spiritism. Let us again refer to the reporter's account, 
to see an accurate description of "investigation" after 
the spirital methods : 

" An old sea-captain, who has been an eye-witness to 
the phenomena and demonstrations incident to a sailor's 
life and several voyages around the world, came to the 
place determined to solve the mystery. He watched 
with fixed attention for some time a smoothing-iron, 
which heretofore, by its supernatural exploits, seemed to 
be ring-master of the game. Becoming exhausted and 
thirsty, he longed for a bottle of the ' cratur,' which he 
understood was in the other room, when instantaneously 



to THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the bottle fell on the flooi* at his side. He partook of the 
liquor, but the bottle disappeared as mysteriously as it 
came!" Truly a "new dispensation" is upon us if these 
tales find believing readers, even though it be one of a 
questionable sort. 

The " spheres " are not alvi^ays painted in the 
most gorgeous hues ; for we iind that many of their 
denizens are of an evil and repulsive character. Lying 
spirits return and are accredited with all the communica- 
tions proving untrue. As sufficient space has been de- 
voted to the power of the demi-gods and their modern 
Olympus, a few words on the abode of the " inferior 
powers," as old lamblichus termed them, may not be out 
of place. Our modern polytheism has also its sombre 
abode, where dwell the " unprogressed" spirits, as they 
are termed in the " Whatever is, is right" theory ; and 
this abode, we are informed, is the second sphere, — the 
one nearest to us ; for we inhabit the first sphere, or 
" physical plane." 

In all of the " spheres" we have seen material objects 
abounding, as on our " plane." Even in the highest 
" sphere," we are told by the spirital Swedenborg, " the 
land is subdivided into communities or neighborhoods, 
and in thein the land, is also again laid out in parcels /or 
each to till for the benefit of all.^'' If the reward of 
spiritual growth consist in raising spirital cabbages or 
etherealized potatoes for our neighbors, we may well 
wonder what is the penalty of living an " unprogressed" 
life on this " plane." 

Dr. Dexter, or the " spirits" through him, informs us 
that " every soul that is out of keeping with divine 
order must remain in the license of a perverse will, for- 
ever vile, until restored by the regenerating influences 
of progression upward and onward forever." These 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: -Jl 

" spirits" are necessarily in the lowest abodes,- — their 
" uuprogressed" condition rendering them more subject 
to the laws of gravity ; the weight of remorse causing 
them to gravitate to their appropriate plane, and this, as 
Judge Edmonds informs us, "embraces not only this 
earth, but many worlds." Here we find that the moral 
darkness resulting from being "out of keeping with 
divine order" is manifested in the black color of the 
bodies of all on this " plane." Consequently, we may 
regard a mulatto " spirit" as one already advanced on 
the highway of progression, and indeed " a man and a 
brother" ! Small chance, however, has he for entering 
the "spiral paths" of progression, if we may credit 
Judge Edmonds's friends, as reported in " Spiritualism." 
Notwithstanding " the soul is a cosmopolite amid the 
eternity of worlds," yet it is led " by the force and di- 
rection of its affinities to select the associates with which 
it will daily mingle, and the neighborhood in which it 
will reside." Being controlled by " affinities" and "force 
of circumstances," these " spirits" lack, in the first place, 
the duj^osiiion, and, secondly, the " force of circum- 
stances" presents some difficulty, for their "sphere" is an 
immense jAain, as level as a Western prairie, with the 
exception of one high and rugged mountain in its centre, 
up whose sides winds the ascending path of progression. 
On this sterile plain farming leaves them but little time 
either for philosophical reflections on the state of their 
souls or ten-hour conventions for the relief of their bodies ; 
for " they toil for sustenance, and, as their land is sandy, 
and no sunlight, there must be great labor to enable 
the earth [' sphere'] to bring forth enough to sustain 
them." (Ibid., p. 222.) 

This disposition for " higher life" is an essential pre- 
requisite for climbing the central mountain, to obtain 



12 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

egress through the trap-door that opens to the sphere 
above. Evil passions and wicked propensities, or, in 
the new vernacular, an " unprogressed" condition, ia- 
crease their specific gravity, and present a physical ob- 
stacle to mountain rambles ; but a " sincere, dignified, 
elevated, soaring, self-sacrificing agony" of remorse and 
contrition has very much the same effect upon them as 
the introduction of hydrogen gas into a balloon, under 
the influence of which their spiral ascent grows easier 
each moment until the summit is reached, and with one 
elastic bound they spurn the sandy soil beneath them, 
and shoot upwards through the "opening" to "higher 
life," where they abide until a fresh inflation is possible, 
and then again to newer and brighter worlds, still up- 
ward ! This is "progression." 

Nor need we confine our attention to Judge Edmonds's 
work to find these crude polytheistic conceptions of the 
future life; for the illustrious band that control Mrs. 
Conant indorse many of these views. In the Banner 
of Light, of July 6, 1812, we find the "controlling 
spirit," Father Fitzjames, answering a question as to his 
first emotions on entering spirit-life. The reverend father 
gives a gloomy picture of his introduction to spirital 
scenes. He had yielded to temptation while " in the 
form," and became a drunkard. Let us listen to his ex- 
perience: "When I entered the spirit-M'orld, I found 
myself in a condition of unhappiness, and I was dissatis- 
fied with my surroundings. ... I wandered on for 
months. ... I longed to soar away from my own 
darkness. 

" Ques. (From the audience.) — I would inquire whether 
the darkness spoken of was mereh^ mental, or was it ob- 
jective darkness complementary to a mental condition ? or 
whether it was anything similar to a lack of vision here? 



THE Sr [RITUAL DELUSION. Y3 

"Ans It is a mental condition, and yet it affects ob- 
jective things. I saw beautiful scenes, ana met beauti- 
ful people, and they were all hideous to me. . . . The 
spiritual sun shone brightly, but I did not appreciate it 
any more than I did the sun of this life, which used to 
often shine brightly when I was drunk." 

The following criticism on "life in the spheres," from 
some unknown pen, is so pertinent that I gladly quote it 
here : 

" To illustrate the extreme sublimation to which con- 
stant attrition and metamorphosis have at length drawn 
out the physical man (in the seventh sphere), we are 
exultingly told that many of the higher spirits have no 
need to eat oftener than once a week ! Taking that as 
the basis of a calculation, we may easily discover the 
precise ratio of their fineness to the texture of our own 
mortality. Once a week to three times a day! That 
would make one bricklayer of Gotham equal, in a fair 
fight, to about twenty-one spherical farmers of the very 
highest capacity !" 

Need more be said to show the parallel existing be- 
tween ancient polytheism and modern spiritism, — not 
only similar in philosophy and phenomena, but account- 
ing for errors by similar methods ? Read the following 
extracts from the ancient believers, and see how closely 
they tally with the reasoning of our modern pagans: 

" There are some w^ho suppose that there is a certain 
obedient genus of demons, which is naturally fraudulent, 
omniform, and various, and which assumes the appearance 
of gods, and good demons, and the souls of the deceased, 
and that through these everything which appears to be 
either good or evil is effected." (Porphyry to the Egyp- 
tian Anebo.) 

In another place he says, — 

D 7 



74 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" By the contrary kind of demons all prestigious effects 
are produced. Tliey constantly cause apparitions and 
spectral appearances, skillful by deceptions which excite 
amazement to impose upon men. It is their very nature 
to lie ; because they wish to be considered gods." (Por- 
phyry apud Eusebium.) 

" Evil spirits, after a fantastic and fallacious method, 
simulate the presence of gods and good demons (spirits), 
and therefore command their worshipers to be just, in 
order that they themselves may seem to be good like the 
gods. Since, however, they are by nature evil, they 
willingly induce evil when invoked to do so, and prompt 
us to evil. These are they who in the delivery of oracles 
[messages] lie and deceive." (lamblichus.) 

The following, we might almost venture to say, must 
have been " inspirational :" 

"But an intellectual perception, above all things, sep- 
arates whatever is contrary to the true purity of the phan- 
tastic spirit ; for it attenuates this spirit in an occult and 
ineffable manner, and extends it to divinity. And when it 
becomes adapted to this exalted energy, it draws, by a cer- 
tain affinity of nature, a divine spirit into conjunction with 
the soul : as, on the contrary, when it is so contracted and 
diminished by condensation that it cannot fill the ven- 
tricles of the brain, which are the seats assigned to it by 
providence, then, nature not enduring a vacuum, an evil 
spirit is insinuated in the place of one divine." (Sy- 
nesius.) 

" These impure spirits . . . gravitate downwards, and 
seduce from the true God towards matter, render life 
turbid, and sleep unquiet : gliding secretly into the bodies 
of men, they simulate diseases, terrify the mind and 
distort the limbs." (Minutius Eelix.) 

" The regions of the air are filled with spirits, who are 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 75 

demons and heroes; that from them come all kinds of 
divination, omens, etc. ; that all kinds of divination are 
to be held in honor." (Pythagoras.) 

Compare the last quotation with the following inspira- 
tional gem from the " spirit" Theodore Parker: 

" Ques. — How does a fine normal speaker, such as 
Henry Ward Beecher, differ from a medium under what 
we term inspirational control ? 

'^Ans. — The difference is simply in degree ; for all fine 
speakers are inspirational speakers. They cannot be 
fine speakers unless they are open to the truths that exist 
in life; and therefore they are inspirational mediums.^' 
B. of L., Nov. 16, 1872. 

" O Achilles, the many assert that you are dead, but 
I do not coincide with that opinion, neither does Pythag- 
oras my master. If we are right, show us your shadow. 
For allow me to say that my eyes might be of much ser- 
vice to you, could you use them as witnesses of your 
being alive." (Apollonius Tyanensis.) 

" * * * holding conversation with the shades and 
spirits of the deceased." (Pliny.) 

In the editorial columns of the Banner of Light (of 
Nov. 16, 1872) is an allusion to a suicide-cell in a 
prison, in which several persons have hanged themselves. 
There is nothing so very remarkable about this in itself, 
for similar narratives may be met with in almost every 
work on mental philosophy ; but spirital science has 
solved the mystery. A young girl who had attempted 
suicide in this cell was restored to life, and said that " a 
little white woman" had appeared to her in the night, 
and " persuaded her" to hang herself. " To test the matter, 
a stranger — a man — who had applied for a night's lodg- 
ing was put into the cell, with a full knowledge of its 
character. At a certain hour he was visited by the same 



t6 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

little white woman, who tried to persuade him to do the 
deed she had led others to do before him. He was in 
due time relieved of his painful suspense, and told his 
storj, though he was not previously apprised of the visit 
of the little woman. It appears that some time ago such 
a woman did hang herself in that cell, and she revisits it 
regularly to gratify her propensity as often as the tem- 
perament or condition of the occupant allows her." 

In this case the cell is the medium, it will be observed, 
for the exercise of her evil "propensity." I shall make 
no comment on this, but, together with the analogous 
quotations from more ancient writers, lay them before the 
reader to show the identity of thought between the two 
classes of spiritists. 

If spirituality, or its modern equivalent, " sublimation," 
is acquired only as we recede from the earth to higher 
" spheres," we may fairly question whether the acquaint- 
ance is desirable of those in the " spheres" nearest the 
earth, whether the black and tawny " spirits" that have 
not as yet progressed by the exhilarating agony of remorse 
out of the " sphere" adjacent to us are, after all, the safest 
guides to enlighten us on spiritual duties ! The spiritist 
will accept the quotations above as confirmatory of the 
truth of his position, but the thoughtful reader will hesi- 
tate to accredit a theory on such questionable credentials. 

Throughout the whole jargon of words constituting the 
so-called " spiritual philosophy of the nineteenth cen- 
tury," we find in the " accredited manifestations" and 
descriptions of the "spheres" only a weak and contempti- 
ble rejuvenation of the polytheism of ruder ages. 

4. In its fallacious mental philosophy. 
The genuine spiritist recognizes no such thing as genius. 
"Spirit-power" is claimed for every act done, word 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. "77 

spoken, or emotion felt. Every invention with which 
the world has been blessed is the result of ideas impressed 
on the mind by unseen beings. Every poet, from Shak- 
speare and Burns down to the trance-medium, is only 
a vehicle for inspiration from " the invisibles." All our 
orators, from the most eloquent statesman, whose burning' 
words have kindled into a flame the souls of a whole 
nation, even to the itinerant spiritist lecturer that charms 
the gaping crowd, are but puppets in the hands of those 
who hold the wires on the unseen side of life. Our very 
dreams are revelations of the higher life, and have been 
carefully studied and their significance tabulated by a 
distinguished spiritist, in a "Book of Dreams," and ad- 
vertised in spirital papers. 

Even those who are entirely unaware of the presence 
of "intellectual guides" are as certainly under their in- 
fluence as any of the well-known media. The editor of 
the principal journal of this modern "spiritual philoso- 
phy" (assisted by the jacketless Franklin) recently as- 
sured me that, by long experience in inspired writings, he 
could instantly detect the extent of inspirational control 
in any article sent to him for publication, and he had 
frequently noticed in my contributions convincing evidence 
of a high degree of " inspirational control." Hence the 
reader may view these pages as the work of some para- 
doxical " spirit" that has not as yet progressed to the 
possession of a ten-acre lot in the higher " spheres," but 
is awaiting, on the sandy plain of the lower region, the 
necessary inflation for an upward course. 

J. M. Peebles, " the Spiritual Pilgrim," for many years 
one of the editorial corps of the Banner of Light, asserts, 
in his " Seers of the Ages," th;it every act performed by the 
" psychologist" upon his subjects can only be explained 
by being viewed as the influence of the denizens of the 



•78 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

other world. The well-known phenomena of Impressions 
transmitted from one mind to another, loosely classed 
together under the term clai7^voyance, are universally 
regarded by spiritists as test-manifestations, and media 
relate that while under the control of the "influence" 
using their organism for the time being, their own spirit 
is traveling in other places, often in Europe, or other far- 
distant lands. 

Disembodied spirits have been accredited with inspir- 
ing the mind of Edgar A. Poe when he was with us, but 
the brighter light of this newer philosophy shows us that 
the vinous stimulants were only the agencies employed 
for harmonizing his mind into the condition of " passive 
receptivity" necessary for catching the "music of the 
spheres." Thus we become mere " spouts," to use A. J. 
Davis's appropriate word, through which the inspiration 
of others is poured. If indeed Poe was incapable of any 
original mental power, but was a mere automatic distrib- 
uter of ideas injected into his mind, we might well wonder 
how he could now, in his jacketless condition, be able to 
do nearly, if not quite, as well through the physical or- 
ganisms of others, as admirers of his recent poetical com- 
munications believe. 

The laws of mind are only to be studied and understood 
in the light of mediumship. Genius is a plant indigenous 
to the higher latitudes of the " spheres," whither all forms 
of life are tending, for all animate and inanimate forms 
have their indwelling spirital entity, — a "sublimated" 
body which still lives on in the other life. Immortality 
is not more peculiar to man than to the pig or the tree. 

" Pig, bullock, goose, must have their goblins too. 
Else ours would have to go without their dinners : 
If that starvation doctrine were but true, 

How hard the fate of gormandizing sinners!" 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. Y9 

Spiritism, though clairainj? to be as yet but a child in 
years, is really aa old friend of extremely antiquated ap- 
pearance, being as old as human ignorance. When it is 
critically examined, we discern it to be strutting in bor- 
rowed clothing and betraying, by its confusion of thought, 
more aflaiiation with the rude polytheistic conceptions of 
ancient Greece, Rome, and Persia than with the analytic 
mental philosophy of our day, and hence, notwithstand- 
ing its high pretensions, unphilosophical and gross in its 
teachings. 



80 TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



CHAPTER III. 

MODERN SPIRITISM UNNATURAL IN ITS EFFECTS. 

1. Initseffecton mental health, by destroying self-reliance. 

True mental health can only consist in the untram- 
meled use of our intellectual faculties through their normal 
development. The old reply of the plowman to the 
dyspeptic inquirer, that he " had no system," was an in- 
dication of physical health. The healthy man has no 
knowledge of the operations performed by his secretory 
organs. In health they perform their work silently and 
naturally, and only disease brings them into prominence 
in our consciousness ; they have then assumed an un- 
natural character, and we are forcibly reminded of their 
existence. Even so in mental and spiritual health ; the 
organs of the mind must work with a natural spontaneity, 
neither forced nor starved. 

Whatever assumes to give us a royal road to knowledge 
in any direction other than that worked out by our own 
faculties, or pretends to reveal to us the mysteries of time, 
is unnatural, and would produce an unhealthy state of 
mental growth. Man must hew out his own knowledge, 
rather than obtain it by gift, if he would not stagnate in 
imbecility. The use of organs must be under the direc- 
tion of our consciousness: if we neglect the use or remit 
it to others, the result is the same. By a process of 
natural selection, the disuse of organs renders them 
practically worthless. As the Hindu devotee that stands 
upon one foot for years sees the other limb shrink and 
wither from disuse, so the surrender of our minds for the 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 81 

thoughts of others, while we remain unconscious of such 
use, can never prove otherwise than injurious to mental 
health. 

Thought kindles thought. As the light applied to the 
slow-match sends activity into the heart of the rock, so 
does an idea once fully possessed awaken a train of ideas, 
until the whole shell, in which custom so often encases 
the mind, shakes and crumbles away before its active 
powers. 

If our ideas are obtained by impressions from without 
through mechanical means, mental activity can never 
ensue. The organs of man are the outlets of an indwell- 
ing controlling force, not the inlets of knowledge by 
external control ; man is an intelligence served by organs, 
not a mere instrument to be played upon. Man has 
a nobler mission than serving as a spiritual watering- 
pot in the hands of any hypothetical "influence," either 
of the earth earthy, or of the " spheres" sublimated ! 

The grand prerequisite for mental independence, the 
condition of health, is to have a soul within us, an ani- 
mating, invigorating, inspiring soul, — not an etherealized 
phantasm of the physical man, who is to continue his 
etherealization through a sevenfold existence hereafter, 
unless sooner reincarnated, but a soul that can recognize 
divine order here, and by and through its own faculties 
put itself in keeping with it ; something in us that will 
stir up all our slumbering powers into new activities 
under the dominating rule of a purpose ; without which 
we may as well be automatic implements in the hands of 
others, mere voluble dischargers of second-hand thought, 
with even the wadding furnished ; *for without soul — 
purpose — all powers are useless. 

What is it to us to know that "the first sphere is the 
natural, the second the spiritual, the third the celestial, 

D* 



82 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the fourth the supernatural, the fifth the super-spirit- 
ual, the sixth the super-celestial, the seventh the Infi- 
nite Yortex of Love and Wisdom"? ]SI"o ! nature's divine 
revelations teach us not of the names of conditions of 
being held in store bj her, but to so live and develop our 
own transcendent powers as to insensibly pass into those 
higher conditions. 

" To know that which before us lies 
Is the prime wisdom ; what is more is fume, 
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence, 
And renders us in that which most concerns us 
Unpracticed, unprepared." 

Words are but the garments of thought. Terminology 
should never take the place of the animating idea. 
Thought, which necessarily clothes itself in action, is 
needed to make the truly self-reliant man. Soul once 
attained, all is attainable ; for where purpose exists, action 
will result, and so far as the actions are the result of spon- 
taneity, is mental health indicated. 

Many of our spiritist friends seem to regard mental 
action as a mechanical influx, instead of a spontaneous out- 
growth ; no inner fire burns on the hearth to warm the 
whole man into a glow of healthy activity, rousing a passive 
will into a sovereign principle, but we are offered the cold 
reflection of distant star-beams, which, however deep they 
may pierce, can excite no molecular motion. The man 
of purpose cannot remain the passive shuttle-cock of con- 
tending forces, "compelled to act as he is acted upon,"* 
but resolutely seizes the refractory circumstances, places 
a bit in their mouths, and renders them subservient to his 
will. Intensely realizing the duties of the present, he has 

"•■■"The Great Harmonia," vol. ii. p. 225. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 33 

neither time nor inclination to spare in profltiess inquiries 
concerning the vocations and avocations of the departed. 

"Life is real, life is earnest;" 

and a healthful, natural condition of the mental faculties 
rejects all external developing processes of the mechanical 
sort, as savoring of the quack. Manlj self-reliance, there- 
fore, is not attainable by placing ourselves under the con- 
trol of others, whether in a physical or sublimated body ; 
not in the school of mediumship do we learn better to 
battle the waves of life as they surge around and over us. 
Only in the development of our own mental powers, 
under the master-hand of soul, recognizing in life a purpose,' 
and unconsciously outworking every thought into action' 
can we ever arrive at a healthful activity of the mind. 

Inspiration, of the mechanical kind, declares man to be 
"a gland or minute organ" in the "great Body of the 
Divine Mind,"* a species of ^olian harp to be played 
upon; but another inspiration, not of the baser sort, 
moved the mind of Matthew Arnold when he wrote these 
lines : 

"From David's lips this word did roll, 
'Tis true and living yet; 
No man can save his brother's soul, 
Nor pay his brother's debt. 

"Alone, self-poised, henceforward man 
Must labor, must resign 
His all too human creeds, and scan 
Simply the way divine." 

Is the "spiritual philosophy of the nineteenth cen- 
tury" to become a mechanical one, confuting material- 
ism and soulless sadduceeisms by converting the mind 
into a mechanical trough, with the sole faculty of " pys- 

* " Nature's Divine Revelations," p. 263. 



84 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

sive receptivity" ? Those sparks from the inner hearth 
where the soul sjts enshrined, and known in mortal 
speech as ideas, talent, genius, are not to be reduced to a 
phantasm or worshiped as ■SM2:)e?--human, but reverently 
regarded as dim signs of almost infinite possibilities. 
Inspiration does dwell in the innermost recesses of the 
soul, and is often manifested, notably so in these words 
of Carlyle, which many might read with profit : 

" ' Man of Genius :' Maecenas Twiddledee, hast thou 
any notion of what a man of genius is ? Genius is ' the 
inspired gift of God.' It is the clearer presence of God 
Most High in a man. Dim, potential in all men ; in this 
man it has become clear, actual. So says John Milton, 
who ought to be a judge ; so answer him the voices, the 
Voices of all Ages and all Worlds. Wouldst thou com- 
mune with such a one ? Be his real peer, then : does 
that lie in thee ? Know thyself and thy real and thy 
apparent place, and know him and his real and apparent 
place, and act in some noble conformity with all that. 
What ! The star-fire of the Empyrean shall eclipse itself, 
and illuminate magic-lanterns to amuse grown children? 
He, the god-inspired, is to twang harps for thee, and 
blow through scrannel-pipes, to soothe thy sated soul 
with visions of new, still wider Eldorados, Houri para- 
dises, richer lands of Cockaigne ? Brother, this is not 
he ; this is a counterfeit ; this twangling, jangling, vain, 
acrid, scrannel-piping man. Thou dost well to say with 
sick Saul, 'It is naught — such harping!' and, in sudden 
rage, to grasp thy spear and try if thou canst pin such a 
one to the wall. King Saul was mistaken in his man, 
but thou art right in thine. It is the due of such a one : 
nail him to the wall, and leave him there. So ought cop- 
per shillings to be nailed on counters, copper geniuses on 
walls, and left there for a sign !" 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 85 

2. 7/1 its effect on spiritual health by fostering super- 
stition. 

What is superstition? Who shall decide fof us what 
is superstitious ? Webster, it is true, defines super- 
stition as excessive exactness or rigor in religion, and 
as belief in omens and prognostics. As to the first, it 
may be questioned whether excessive exactness or rigor 
can exist in religion itself, and we may conclude that 
the " excess" is a sign of no religion, a mere sham sub- 
stitute for religion. If, however, is meant a rigor in 
what is called religion by those in whom we think we 
discover the symptoms of excess, we should then con- 
clude that exactness must never overstep a certain line 
which still remains indefinite. How far shall we be 
exact to our conceptions of truth and duty without over- 
stepping the boundary-line between the rational and the 
irrational, and entering the domain of superstition ? I 
think I am not a superstitious man, and I discover that my 
neighbor has the same good opinion of his own rationality. 
So we are again brought to our starting-point: What 
is superstition ? 

John Wetherbee, in a thoughtful article published some 
time since in The Index, though professing not to be able 
to answer the question, still felt certain that there was 
"no body of people, in Christendom or out of it, so free 
from superstition as the modern ' spiritualists.' " If all 
spiritists were as sensible as Mr. Wetherbee, these pages 
would be unnecessary ; yet even he did define it, in his es- 
timation, as " the dry-rot of the Christian church," a defini- 
tion aptly illustrating our proneness to discover the mote 
often existing in our neighbor's eye, and recalling to mind 
a remark attributed to Josh Billings, that the best place 
to have a boil was somewhere on your neighbor's body ! 



86 TEB SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

If we say belief in omens and prognostics — that physi- 
cal signs or events in the natural world are material evi- 
dence of spiritual facts — does it remain clear that Mr. 
Wetherbee's friends are of all bodies the most free from 
this charge ? Mr. Wetherbee declares of his belief that 
"its most accented expression is that everything is natural 
and nothing supernatural. The moment a man is a 
believer, he can be superstitious only so far as he is in- 
consistent. A man may be credulous ; he may be shallow ; 
he may be ignorant : these are human attributes, and may 
appear in human beings who are spiritualists. But the 
subject tends to correct all such weaknesses." 

Is this indeed true ? Does an " instantaneous conver- 
sion" occur " the moment a man is a believer" ? or is this 
assertion but what any sectary announces of his own pet 
theory of the universe ? Does an earnest, entire belief in 
the presence of our departed friends, and the possibility 
of conversing with them on any subject, tend to render us 
more self-reliant and less credulous ? Does the possibility 
of consulting a trusted friend removed to a higher plane 
with a broader scope of vision, and the adoption of his 
advice, tend to eliminate shallowness ? If belief in such 
intercourse tends to correct ignorance, is the extent of 
the correction in any proportion to the intensity of the 
belief? Are they who believe least, or they who believe 
most, the most intelligent in the ranks of spiritism ? 

Mr. Wetherbee's articles invariably bear evidence 
of their author's possessing good common sense ; whether 
his faith or his skepticism is the greater always appears 
to me a matter of doubt, but not which is more in har- 
mony with his common sense. 

Let us take a closer view of the field, and by compari- 
son see if we can place our hand on any one belief and 
say. This is indeed superstitious. I read that a Tartar 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. St 

shaman lies in a lethargic slumber while his soul journeys 
in other lands, or visits the realms of the departed. In 
former years I was accustomed to look on this as super- 
stitious, but the light of the New Dispensation has made 
the phenomenon as common among us as with the Tar- 
tars ; for I read in the Banner of Light (of August 31, 
18T2) a communication from Ohio, setting forth the 
wonderful manifestations performed by "invisibles" in 
that State, where soul-communion is attained through 
the homble instrumentality of a tin trumpet. The souls 
of all present having been harmonized by an influx of spir- 
ituality, radiating from the aforesaid trumpet of tin (is tin 
preferable to other metals as a conductor of spiritual in- 
fluence to our spiritual natures ? A query for spirital 

science), the writer adds, " Miss Annie M , a member 

of the circle, passed into a clairvoyant state, and remained 
for a time entirely under the control of departed spirits, 
who spoke to us through her, while her spirit, in the mean 
time, wandered with our spirit-friends amid the beauties 
of the brighter world, a recollection of which she always 
retains, and relates to us as soon as her spirit takes charge 
of her earthly form." Shall we say the Tartar or the 
degraded Bushman is irrational and superstitious for be- 
lieving in Asia or Africa what in America is not only 
rational, but the rational method of correcting credulity, 
shallowness, and ignorance ? 

I have been accustomed to see superstition in the belief 
of savage tribes in spectral appearances ; to regard appa- 
ritions as subjective only in origin ; to believe that in 
hallucination 

" The soul- 
Wrapt in strange visions of the unreal — 
Paints the illusive form." 

But the familiarity of our own friends with ghostly 



88 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

acquaintances mnst lead us to revise our judgment of 
Karens or Caribs, or to extend the borders of superstition 
to include many in our midst. When I read in the Banner 
of Light (of February 11, 1871) a detailed account of 
the return of a "spirit," who manifests his presence by 
purloining corn from a reverend gentleman's corn-crib, 
opening windows, and scattering culinary furnitui'e, I 
am forcibly reminded of the agreement between the sav- 
age and the Banner writer in their interpretation of phe- 
nomena, and have no doubt they would still further agree 
that superstition is a deadly weed and should be eradi- 
cated whenever found on our neighbor's ground. 

To believe that our friends are ever with us, and anx- 
ious to impart counsel and assistance in our many per- 
plexities, would inevitably lead the mind to listen to their 
monitions, coming as we would believe from a being of a 
higher condition, and removed from the influence of the 
petty things which contract our vision here; in inverse 
proportion to our belief in the reality of their presence and 
communications would be our inclination to calmly weigh 
their words in our mind. To test, to weigh in the scales 
of reason, is to doubt, to be uncertain whether the phe- 
nomenon does proceed from the source claimed ; and our 
spiritist friends claim to have knowledge, not faith. Me- 
diums often boast of the numbers that come to them to 
consult their friends in higher life regarding. their business 
speculations, and claim that thousands never make any 
venture unless it has received indorsement from these 
friends. And this claim is consistent with the spirital 
theory ; for the whole tenor of the " philosophy" is to 
show that " spirits" can not only impart information, but 
that they possess better means of forecasting the future 
than mortals still confined in the " cramping influence of 
material environments." 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 89 

A Story was recently current of a young lady in Maine 
having been married to the sublimated form of her de- 
ceased lover. Was this act any evidence of superstition ? 
If he was with her, visible in bodily form to her eyes, and 
she could converse with him and hear the words that 
passed his spirital lips, why not become in fact, what she 
was in intention, his wife? "Material" minds may in- 
deed regard her action as superstition, but not so the 
spiritist. Admitting the premises, no such conclusion 
could possibly follow. He would regard her as having 
attained to a clear conception of real things, a knowledge 
of spiritual truth, — confessedly the highest development, 
— and the conversation of her sublimated husband would 
necessarily tend to broaden her field of vision, and elimi- 
nate credulity, shallowness, and ignorance. 

Leaving the spiritist firm in his " knowledge," we will 
not need to seek further for an answer to the question, 
" What is superstition ?" for if the ground on which su- 
perstition is produced be once regarded as true knowl- 
edge, and assiduously cultivated, we need not marvel that 
spiritist writers confess their inability to define supersti- 
tion. 

In discussing the efi"ects of spiritism on the mind, I 
would not be supposed to assert that all spiritists are 
superstitious. I do not regard Mr. Wetherbee as a super- 
stitious man ; not, however, because his belief has eradi- 
cated superstition but for the reason that he has not 
accepted all the logical conclusions of the spirital theory. 

I have in several places criticised some of the written 
expressions of A. J. Davis as materialistic and gross, 
yet Mr. Davis has ably protested against some of the 
popular views current among spiritists. As an act of 
justice to him, I here quote from one of his recent works 
— "The Fountain" — his views on "popular errors." 

8* 



90 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Whether be is strictly logical in affirming the "philos- 
ophy," and denouncing as errors what others regard as 
essential elements of it, is another question, on which 
we should undoubtedly differ. 

"Among the errors and hurtful superstitions which 
have sprung up in modern fields — in fields where we 
fondly hoped the immortal flowers of reason alone would 
grow and forever bloom — I will in this place mention 
only nine, as follows : 

" 1. That departed spirits, both good and evil, con- 
tinually float and drive about in the earth's physical 
atmosphere. 

" 2. That evil-disposed characters, having died in 
their active sins, linger around men and women both 
day and night, in order to gratify their unsatisfied pas- 
sions and prevailing propensities, 

" 3. That all known mental disturbances, such as in- 
sanity, murder, suicide, licentiousness, arson, theft, and 
various evil impulses and deeds, are caused by the di- 
rect action of the will of false and malignant spirits. 

" 4. That certain passionate spirits, opposed to purity 
and truth and goodness, are busy breaking up the tender 
ties of families, and take delight in separating persons 
living happily in the marriage relation. 

" 5. That spirits are at all times subject to summons, 
and can be 'called up' or made to 'appear' in circles; 
and that the ' mediums' have no private rights or powers 
of will which the spirits are bound to respect. 

" 6. That spirits are both substantial and Immaterial ; 
that they traverse the empire of solids, and bolt through 
s«lid substances, without respecting any of the laws of 
solids and substances ; and that they can perform any- 
thing they like, to astonish the investigator, 

" T, That every human being is a medium in one form 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 91 

or another, and to some extent; and that all persons, un- 
consciouslj to themselves, are acting out the feelings, 
the will, and the mind of spirits. 

" 8. That spiritual intercourse is perpetual ; that it is 
everywhere operative; and that, being at last established, 
it cannot be again suspended. 

" 9. That the reading of books, and reflection, as a 
means of obtaining truth, are no longer necessary to be- 
lievers ; that the guardian band of spirits will impart to 
the faithful everything worth knowing; and that, for 
anything further, one need only wait upon the prompt- 
ings of intuition ; and that, in any event, ' whatever is- 
is right.' 

" These errors, these superstitions, and these dogmas, 
like all other human developments, contain rich intima- 
tions and germs of truth. These theories have taken 
deep root among a large class of avowed spiritualists. 
And the legitimate effects, it will be remembered, are 
visible in the disintegrations and decompositions of char- 
acter; in mutual disrespect and recriminations; in the 
disorganization of all our public efforts and the abandon- 
ment of our beneficent enterprises ; in the irreverence 
manifested towards even the great central principles 
around which all persons and facts must bow and cling; 
and, lastly, in the gradual suspension of the delightful 
intercourse itself, by which the glory and unspeakable 
opportunities of immortality have been brought to life. 

"After twenty-five years of constant investigation into 
the many and various phases of this subject, and with 
almost daily realizations of somewhat of the infinite 
goodness embosomed in these high privileges, I can 
most solemnly affirm, and I do now make the declara- 
tion, that the nine propositions contained in the indict- 
ment are mostly errors and hurtful theories, injurious in 



92 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

their effect upon the individual judgment, and still more 
injurious when made the foundation of faith and prac- 
tice. They belong to the age of broom-riding witches, 
to the shallow doctrines of personal devils and sorcery, 
and the fiction age of astrology and the small gods of 
superstition. They will not bear analysis by the philo- 
sophical method of» detecting the presence and value of 
truth. They will not stand a test by the supreme in- 
fallible authorities, — Nature, Reason, Intuition.''^ 

3. In its effect on physical health by developing abnormal 
faculties. 

That the healthful know not of their health, but only 
the sick, we have seen to hold true in a far wider sense 
than its physical one. Health is a state of unconscious 
activity of all normal faculties. All faculties are normal 
or abnoi'mal according to the use made of them. Web- 
ster defines abnormal as "irregular, contrary to rule," 
and hence any faculty used irregularly, and not accord- 
ing to the established methods of nature, is abnormal 
and unnatural. 

The mental and physical are too intimately correlated 
for one not to be affected by whatever tends to weaken 
the other. Anything which tends to sap or destroy the 
natural activity of the organs through which man holds 
converse with objective nature tends to lower the stand- 
ard of health, for the abnormal use of any faculty being 
" irregular" r)mst so far weaken it for normal service. 
To attain physical manhood, we must ourselves have 
control of the reins, and not be held or swayed from 
without. 

" Man is an intelligence served by organs," and these 
organs may have a stinted or an excessive development; 
but in either case they should remain our own. If we 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 93 

grant the assumption of the spiritist, that even now 

" The unseen 
Shore faint, resounds, and all the mystic air 
Breathes forth the names of parent, brother, wife," 

and that we may become rnedia for their use in eon- 
versing with those remaining on the shores of time, we 
should still regard the method adopted as one detrimental 
to physical perfection, and unnatural. 

Our organs of speech will but give what there is in us 
to say, whether wise or otherwise. If we have the 
thought, an inspiring idea, it will soon enough clothe 
itself in articulate words and go on its way, doing its mis- 
sion wheresoever it may find lodgment. Ideas are never 
isolated. " One-idea men" are illusive monstrosities, ex- 
isting nowhere in nature, for ideas are creative ; they are 
active, agitating, fruitful, filling the mind with light and 
eventuating in healthful action. 

If the thought be not there, but only a barren waste, 
destitute alike of beautiful verdure and refreshing springs 
ever overwelling, and " passively" content with reflecting 
the rays falling upon it, instead of absorbing and out- 
working them, the natural end and purpose of exist- 
ence is wanting, and action of a manly sort can never 
ensue. Man is not a machine whose motive power may 
be estimated in terms of beef or grain ; he is more than 
the sum of his senses, and must be maste?' of his faculties 
to even develop physical manhood. The child that is 
always waited upon, whose every wish is gratified, that 
finds no occasion for inquiry or thought, remains a child ; 
he never reaches manhood, whatever may be his longitudi- 
nal standard. If we are to become mere auxiliaries to tin 
trumpets for the transmission of the wisdom of the 
" spheres," there must be an arrest of normal growth, 
and manhood lies not in us, but far removed from us. 



94 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Nature, with all her reticence as regards herself, is 
prodigal in her gifts, and has bountifully supplied us 
with faculties for perceiving truth and beauty, if we 
would but use them, and methods for giving expression 
to them infinitely better than we can find through any 
other channel never adapted to the purpose ; methods far 
more inspiring than " passive receptivity" to every Tom, 
Joe, or Harry that may desire to give vent to spherical 
idiocies or sentimental drivelings. 

If we could thus be used by entirely unknown per- 
sons, subject to questionable — ay, often unquestionable 
— " influxes," and our divine faculty of speech be made 
a trumpet of uncertain tone, or prostituted to base in- 
fluences, if the very possibility of such a degradation lay 
before us, we should sacredly guard ourselves from the 
remotest danger of such utter prostitution. Only in the 
healthful, natural use of our powers are we warranted 
by nature, and only by such use are we benefited and 
blessed. 

4. In its effect on moral health hy weakening self- 
control. 

It may seem a truism to observe that moral conduct is 
the result of possessing control over our faculties and 
passions, yet it is a truism that sadly needs reiterating 
in these days, when thousands are busily engaged in 
protracted endeavors to place their faculties under the 
control of some other power, — when, instead of action 
being the aim, the mind is systematically reduced to a 
state of "passive receptivity," and self-control deliber- 
ately abnegated. Having no controlling idea within 
them, no inspiring soul at the helm, many become capti- 
vated with the prospect of becoming spiritual watering 
pots, and distributing to thirsting souls, by a mechanical 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 95 

process, what they instinctively realize they have not the 
natural means of supplying. 

The process of " development" being an unnatural one, 
and necessarily resulting only in the development of ab- 
normal or morbid faculties, the individual control must 
be so far weakened. The mind loses its healthful con- 
dition of spontaneous activity, and regards every action 
as the result of "external agencies." It may well ^be 
questioned, even whether passivity on our part, and 
activity on the side of thousands of jacketless men and 
women "ever with us," could possibly be conducive to 
morality. Though assuming to be the " spiritual philos- 
ophy of the nineteenth century," we fail to discover the 
ghost of evidence that this system possesses even the 
rudiments of spiritual thought, or influences its followers 
in their daily conduct to nobler lives. 

It is impossible, of course, to lay before the reader any 
examples to show that this is actually the result, yet the 
fact remains patent to all familiar with the private his- 
tories of a large proportion of our constantly-employed 
media, and is still further evidenced in the scandalous 
stories regarding each other current among mediums 
themselves, and occasionally outcropping in their ha- 
rangues, as was recently the case, at the " Spiritualists' 
National Convention," with the physical organism con- 
trolled by Demosthenes. When a distinguished spiritist 
lecturer arrives in a town, and after a brilliant lecture 
on temperance is seen in public resorts, exhibiting him- 
self as a " frightful example" of the need of temperance 
reform, the excuse of " obsession" is urged to palliate 
his fault and remove the responsibility. Is a female 
lecturer left by her husband for lewd and adulterous 
conduct? "evil spirits" are deemed the cause, and her 
graceful figure and coquettish ways are as welcome as 



96 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ever on the rostrum to expound " spiritual truth" ! Are 
families broken up by some ex-reverend whose carnal 
propensities have overmastered him ? we are gravely 
informed that " certain spirits delight in producing 
discord" ! 

Granting that these excuses be correct, it remains a 
virtual confession that passivity lias resulted injuriously 
to moral health ; that moral self-control did not lie 
within them, and that they were powerless in the hands 
of unknown agencies, who delight to return and through 
them gratify their baser passions and propensities, "ob- 
sessing" them for their own vile purposes. A spiritist, 
known in nearly all the Northern States, once remarked 
to me that he believed he could eat a hearty meal and 
then be " obsessed" by a " hungry spirit" and eat as much 
more! The very admission that such a state of things 
exists, or belief in its possibility, is tantamount to confes- 
sion of the fact alleged. 

It has been urged that the result obtained is worth far 
more than the cost; that we have thereby the fact 
demonstrated to us that it is possible for those whom we 
had sadly thought to be dead to return and influence 
us. Is it not a great, transcendent fact that they live 
and are still with us ? Does not this knowledge outweigh 
all incidental injury to those willing to make " martyrs" 
of themselves in so holy a cause ? 

Alas ! it is not so apparent. Aside from the grossness 
of the thought that the attainment of a knowledge of 
spiritual realities may be detrimental to moral upright- 
ness in conduct, and is dependent upon physical con- 
ditions, we see with sorrow the evidence of complete 
spiritual paralysis. The soul has become conscious of 
itself, and sees itself to be a "sublimated" image; it 
has become an entity, and concerns itself exceedingly as 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



9Y 



to its ultimate condition. It is no longer a healthful, 
animating cau^e, but an effect. Spiritual anatomists dis- 
sect it, and give us treatises on sjnritual physiology. 
Soul, as an indwelling motive power, unconsciously out- 
working a purpose in life, by noble and manly endeavor, 
with firm faith and undoubted reliance in all goodness 
and nobleness, now lies sick,— has become anxious to 
know the why and how. Spiritual digestion has become 
disordered, and craves for nostrums, and nostrums enough 
abound ! The soul is no longer shrouded in mystety 
and reverently regarded, but "parceled out into shop- 
lists of what are called 'faculties,' 'motives,' and such 
like." 

We are to have a new religion to meet the soul's 
dyspeptic cravings; a "religion made easy," with im- 
proved mechanism in good working order, whereby we 
may have " demonstrated to us the existence of other 
realms wherein we are to reside and progress." Religion, 
in such sense, becomes but the apotheosis of self! "^The 
true, heroic soul will rather answer in the words of one 
somewhat widely known as a thinker,— 

" Let that vain struggle to read the mystery of the 
Infinite cease to harass us. It is a mystery which, 
through all ages, we shall only read here a line of, there 
another line of. Do we not already know that the name 
of the Infinite is Good, is God ? Here on earth we are 
as soldiers fighting in a foreign land, that understand 
uot the plan of the campaign, and have no need to un- 
derstand it; seeing well what is at our hand to be done. 
Let us do it like soldiers ; with submission, with cour- 
age, with a heroic joy. 'Whatsoever thy hand fiudeth 
to do, do it with thy might.' Behind us, behind each 
one of us, lie six thousand years of human effort, human 
conquest : before us is the boundless time, with its as 
E 9 



98 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

yet uncreated and unconquered continents and Eldorados, 
which we, even we, have to conquer, to create ; and from 
the bosom of eternity there shine for us celestial guiding 
stars. 

" ' My inheritance how wide and fair ! 

Time is my fair seed-field, of Time I'm heir.' " 



PART II -THE PHENOMENA. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 



Having somewhat critically examined the subject of 
spiritism as presented in its philosophy, and seen it to be 
crude and unscientific in its methods, gross and unphilo- 
sophical in its teachings, and demoralizing and unnatural 
in its effects, we migiit be content to rest. But the mind 
is not satisfied unless some explanation is presented of 
the various " manifestations" upon which the philosophy 
is based. In entering upon this portion of the subject — 
an examination of the phenomena — we are beset with 
many difficulties, and frankly confess that, in the present 
state of psychological science, it does not lie in our power 
to definitely explain every phenomenon to which spirit- 
ists may point ; but we may endeavor to point out the 
false deductions drawn, and show good reason for with- 
holding our belief in the entirely gratuitous assumption 
that they must proceed from disembodied human beings. 

Let us carefully investigate the alleged manifestations, 
and while disclaiming the egotism that would })ronounce 
them well understood, it is still possible to show that, 
whatever the causes, they can furnish no evidence of the 
presence of intelligence not in the physical form. 

(99) 



100 TSE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

For many years I have carefully investigated the 
various phenomena presented as " spiritual" in their 
origin, without prejudice on the one hand, or blind 
credulity on the other. Soon convinced that the subject 
was well worth examination, no pains were spared to 
become acquainted with it in all of its various phases 
and to endeavor to arrive at just conclusions. In my 
mind it became established that spirit-communion was a 
possibility, and that departed friends had the power, 
under certain conditions, of making their presence known 
through the physical organism of a living person. While 
giving assent to this, however, the " communications" 
were never regarded as reliable : even in the most favor- 
able conditions they seemed to be more or less influenced 
by the mind of the medium. But continued investigation 
has thoroughly convinced me that my conclusions were 
premature, and not logical deductions from the phenomena 
prescHted. After years of pains-taking and anxious investi- 
gation, these former conclusions, drawn from isolated and 
sporadic "manifestations," were shown to be unwarranted 
inferences, destitute alike of scientific evidence and phil- 
osophical plausibility. To indicate, therefore, the proper 
manner in which the subject should be studied, and the 
reasons for denying the inferences based upon the phe- 
nomena is the purpose of the remaining pages. 

To the spiritist, who already has his complete theory 
of the universe, and fancies himself in full possession of 
the key to the mysteries of nature, no appeal is made ; it 
were useless ; those already possessing knowledge are 
never students. But the thoughtful, inquiring mind, 
anxious to know if these marvels do really indicate an 
extra-material origin, we invite to follow us through the 
remaining pages, before coming into full possession of the 
spiritist's "knowledge." 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 101 

No desire is felt to weaken any one's faith in a future 
state of being, nor remove anything which may prove a 
consolation in time of bereavement. The writer has an 
abiding faith as to the future, a faith that has remained 
unshaken even under the perusal of countless " commu- 
nications" purporting to emanate thence, and still cher- 
ishes it as one of the soul's most precious possessions. 
But as men love truth, so do they abhor error, and scout 
the idea that error ever can be blessed or beneficial to the 
soul. If error seems for the time to possess consolation, 
it is because the soul has been content to rest on a lower 
level ; and the enlargement of its vision, while destroy- 
ing the supposed consolation, never leaves it destitute. 
Whatever is truth, is best, no matter whither it may lead 
us. The soul will instinctively cling to it when once seen, 
and find consolation and peace only therein. 



9* 



102 TUE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



CHAPTER 11. 

MENTAL EXALTATION. 

The wisest and best of mankind have ever fondly dwelt 
on the idea that the higher in spirituality we attained, the 
nearer we were drawn into communion with the spiritual 
world, and became more receptive to spiritual truths. 

" Nearer, my God, to thee," 

and to thy higher realms of thought and existence, nearer 
to the fount of all truth, and in closer soul-communion 
with our loved ones gone before, should be the aspiration 
of every heart and the governing impulse of every mind. 
In challenging the "tests of mediumship," the writer 
would not be understood as denying the existence of a 
spiritual world, for he is firmly persuaded that his friends 
who have passed the portals of the tomb have but thrown 
off the worn-out habiliments of mortality, with its debas- 
ing influences, and live on in a wider and higher sphere 
of action, again to be met when he, as a tardier trav- 
eler, shall have groped his way to the journey's end, and 
the scales of physical existence drop from his sight and 
permit him to behold what now he cannot dimly conceive. 
Nay, more : that across the great gulf between this state 
and'that there may have occasionally flashed — to receptive 
minds spiritually attuned — some dim realization of a 
nobler, holier state of action yet to be attained ; that there 
have been times when children of men have been refreshed 
with inspiration falling upon their spiritual natures like 
gentle rain, causing new and loftier thoughts to bud and 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 103 

blossom, so that the fragrance thereof — like musk in the 
walls of ancient temples — has outlived the ravages of time. 

Modern spiritists, however, are not content with this 
" strait and narrow way" to spirituality, but have im- 
proved, as they fondly imagine, upon the original concep- 
tion; and now they present us with a patent labor-saving 
apparatus, by which any one may attain to a " knowledge" 
of spiritual truth by paying from ten cents to ten dollars ; 
the schedule being based not on the net amount of 
spirituality evolved, but either on the thaumaturgical 
abilities of the medium or the credulity of the "investi- 
gator." Not content, moreover, with borrowing a word 
descriptive of the grandest school of philosophy, ancient 
or modern, they arrogantly presume to be its special expo- 
nents, and, to use the pertinent words of John "Weiss, 
" spell it with a capital S !" 

Of all the phases of mediumship, the trance is the most 
familiar, in which condition, it is confidently asserted, illit- 
erate men and women, and even children, ai'e capable of 
lecturing, improvising, singing, dancing, and painting, in 
a manner far transcending their normal mental powers. 
Thousands point to these instances of mental exaltation 
as irrefutable evidences of " spirit-influence," and loudly 
call upon "mole-eyed science" to explain them or "for- 
ever after hold its peace." Similar instances of mental 
exaltation are familiar to every student in mental phi- 
losophy ; yet those to whom the human soul is no mys- 
tery reiterate this demand. It is undoubtedly proven that 
these wonderful powers pertain to the mind, and that 
various causes not due to the ubiquitous " influences" 
may call them forth ; and yet new instances are constantly 
being paraded in the columns of the spirital press as 
"demonstrations" of spiritual existence. If we can cite 
similar phenomena produced by mundane means, then as 



104 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

direct evidence of another state of existence this class of 
phenomena becomes worthless. I therefore proceed to 
adduce some of the causes known to produce the state of 
" mental exaltation ;" not, however, to claim that all in- 
stances may be classified under the heads selected, but to 
give reason for inferring that still other causes exist, not 
so well studied and understood, 

1. In mental derangement. 

All competent physicians are familiar with the morbid 
phenomena of consciousness, and rightly withhold cre- 
dence in whatever is attested by abnormal or unusual 
manifestations of it. Hence strong personal conscious- 
ness of the reality of any event, under such conditions, 
carries with it no weight to the intelligent mind. Among 
the earliest recognized symptoms of organic brain dis- 
ease, indicating the approach of insanity, softening of the 
brain, or paralysis, there is often observed a marked 
exaltation of certain faculties. 

Dr. Forbes Winslow, in his work on the " Obscure 
Diseases of the Brain and Mind," gives some striking 
illustrations of this fact. He says, — 

" Men naturally dull of apprehension, in fact nearly 
half-witted, exhibit occasionally, both in the early as well 
as in the advanced stages of insanity, considerable acute- 
ness and capacity." 

As examples of this mental acuteness in insanity, we 
quote from the same work several illustrative cases. 

" In the stage of morbid exaltation, the patient fre- 
quently exhibits a talent for poetry, mechanics, oratory, 
and elocution, quite unusual and inconsistent with his 
education, and opposed to his normal habits of thought. 
His witty sallies, bursts of fervid and impassioned elo- 
quence, readiness at repartee, power of extemporaneous 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 105 

versification, mechanical skill and ingenuity, amaze those 
who were acquainted with his ordinary mental capacity 
and educational attainments. There is an unusual dis- 
play of vigor of mind, an ability to converse fluently on 
subjects not previously familiar to his mind, and an 
aptitude to discuss matters wholly unconnected with his 
particular situation in life. A quickness of perception, a 
facility or propriety of utterance quite unusual, becomes 
in some cases, as the disease progresses, daily more 
manifest. * * * 

"A young gentleman had an attack of insanity caused 
by rough ill-usage whilst at school. This youth had 
never exhibited any particular talent for arithmetic or 
mathematical science ; in fact, it was alleged that he 
was incapable of doing a simple sum in addition or mul- 
tiplication. After recovering from his maniacal attack, 
and when able to occupy his mind in reading and con- 
versation, it was discovered that an arithmetical power 
had been evolved. He was able with wonderful facility 
to solve several rather complicated problems. This talent 
continued for several months, but after his complete re- 
storation to health he relapsed into his former natural 
state of arithmetical dullness, ignorance, and general 
mental incapacity. 

" The wife of a clergyman exhibited, during her par- 
oxysms of maniacal excitement, a wonderful talent for 
rapid and clever versification. The nurse who was in 
constant attendance upon the patient was so struck 
with the phenomenon that she had transcribed, before 
calling my attention to the fact, a number of verses 
evidencing poetical powers of no ordinary character. 
The disposition to improvise was manifested mostly at 
night. After her recovery all capacity for rhyming 
appeared to subside. I understand that, previously to 

E* 



106 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

her illness, she had not exhibited the slightest poetical 
inclination or ability." 

Dr. Benjamin Rush, in his work " On the Diseases of 
the Mind," writes as follows: 

" The records of wit and cunning of madmen are nu- 
merous in every country. Talents for eloquence, poetry, 
music, painting, and uncommon ingenuity in several of 
the mechanical arts are often evolved in this state of 
madness. A female patient of mine, who became insane 
after parturition, in 180Y, sang hymns and songs of her 
own composition, during the latter stage of her illness, 
with a tone and voice so soft and pleasant that I hung 
upon it with delight every time I visited her. She had 
never discovered a talent for poetry or music in any 
previous part of her life. Two instances of a talent for 
drawing evolved by madness have occurred within my 
knowledge ; and where is the hospital for mad people in 
which elegant and complete rigged ships and curious 
pieces of machinery have not been exhibited by persons 
who never discovered the least turn for a mechanical art 
previously to their derangement ?" 

Pinel, an acknowledged authority on insanity, remarks 
in this connection that — 

" Certain facts appear so extraordinary that they have 
need of being borne up by the most authentic testimony, 
in order not to be called into question. I speak of the 
poetical enthusiasm which is said to have characterized 
certain paroxysms of mania, even when the verses could 
nowise be regarded as an act of reminiscence. I have 
myself heard a maniac declaim, with grace and exquisite 
discernment, a longer or shorter succession of verses of 
Virgil or Horace, which had been a long time effaced 
from his memory. . . . An English author attests 
that a young girl of a feeble constitution, and subject to 



TBE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. IQT 

nervous affections, had become insane, and during her 
delirium she expressed herself in very harmonious Eng- 
lish verses, though she had before shown no disposition 
for poetry." 

Dr. Abercrombie, in his " Intellectual Powers," men- 
tions the case of a young lady becoming insane, but not 
violent. "Before her insanity she had been only learning 
to read, and to form a few letters ; but during her in- 
sanity she taught herself to write perfectly, though all 
attempts of others to teach her failed, as she could not 
attend to any person who tried to do so. She has intervals 
of reason, which have frequently continued three weeks, 
sometimes longer. During these she could neither read 
nor write; but immediately on the return of her insanity 
she recovers ber power of writing, and can read perfectly." 

Tasso composed his most eloquent and impassioned 
verses during paroxysms of insanity. Lucretius wrote 
his immortal poem when suffering from an attack of 
mental aberration. Cruden compiled his "Concordance" 
whilst insane.* Van Swieten relates the case of a young 
woman displaying the faculty of rhyming, or poetic 
talent, during her paroxysms of mania, though she had 
before been occupied with manual labor, and her under- 
standing had never been enriched by culture. Pages 
might be filled with similar instances, to all but the 
spiritist susceptible of a psychological solution. 

2. In the use of stimulants. 
Similar effects are sometimes produced by the use of 
stimulants. In states of depressed energy of the brain, 
when in a starved and impoverished condition, arising 



* Winslow : "Obscure Diseases of the Brain and Mind," p. 171. 
Dendy : " Philosophy of Mystery," pp. 94, 95. 



108 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

from a deficient supply of blood, the memory becomes 
impaired, it is well known that vinous stimulants will 
often act immediately in restoring the memory to its 
usual activity. Stimulants frequently excite mental 
faculties, producing that singular phenomenon known as 
" double consciousness," in which the person apparently 
leads two lives, forgetting when sober everything tran- 
spiring when intoxicated, and vice versa; when drunk, 
with memory only of acts perform.ed or witnessed in 
former states of intoxication, and when sober with knowl- 
edge only of his past sober moments ; or, as Mr. Combe 
has said, a double personality manifests itself in the 
exhibition of two separate and independent mental capa- 
bilities in the same individual; each train of thought and 
each capability being wholly dissevered from the others, 
and the two states in which they predominate subject to 
frequent interchange. An illustration of this curious 
state of mental action was quoted from Abercrombie in 
the preceding section. 

It has often been asserted that Poe wrote best when 
under the influence of vinous stimulants. Coleridge's 
remarkable poetical fragment, " Kubla Khan," was com- 
posed while under the influence of opium, and made so 
deep an impression on his memory that on waking he 
proceeded to write it down. While engaged in this task 
he was called away on urgent business requiring his 
whole attention for a few hours, and on his return found 
that the remainder of the poem had passed from his 
memory. " Rousseau's Dream" and Tartini's " Devil's 
Sonata" owe their birth to brains stimulated by narcotics 
to flights of fancy and musical expression far surpassing 
their respective authors' usual powers. 

Tartini relates the following anecdote of the origin of 
his chef-d'oeuvre, "La Sonata di Diavolo:" 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 109 

" One nigbt, it was iu the year 1113, 1 dreamed that I 
had made over my soul to his satanic majesty. Every- 
thing was done to my wish : the faithful menial antici- 
pated my fondest wishes. Among other freaks, it came 
into my head to put the violin in his hands, for I was 
anxious to see whether he was capable of producing any- 
thing worth bearing upon it. Conceive my astonishment 
at his playing a sonata, with such dexterity and grace as 
to surpass whatever the imagination can conceive. I 
was so much delighted, enraptured, and entranced by his 
performance that I was unable to fetch another breath, 
and, in this state, I awoke. I jumped up and seized upon 
my instrument, in the hope of reproducing a portion, at 
least, of the unearthly harmonies I had heard iu my 
dream, but all in vain ; the music which I composed under 
the inspiration I must admit was the best I have ever 
written, and of right I have called it the ' Devil's Sonata;' 
but the falling off between that piece and the sonata 
which had laid such fast hold of my imagination is so 
immense, that I would rather have l)roken my violin into 
a thousand fragments, and renounced music for good and 
all, than, had it been possible, have been robbed of the 
enjoyment which the remembrance afforded me." 

Walter Cooper Dendy, in his " Philosophy of Mystery," 
remarks as follows in this connection : 

" The brilliancy of thought may be artificially induced 
also by various other narcotics, such as the juice of the 
American manioc, the fumes of tobacco, or the yupa of the 
Othomacoes on the Orinoco. To this end we learn from a 
learned lord that even ladies are wont to 'light up their 
minds with opium, as they do their houses with wax or oil.' 

" Indeed, a kind of inspiration seems for a time to fol- 
low the use of these narcotics. The Cumsean Sibyl 
swallowed the juice of the cherry-laurel ere she sat on 

10 



110 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the divining tripod; and from this may have arisen those 
superstitious fancies of the ancients regarding the virtues 
of the laurel, and the influence of other trees, of which I 
remember an allusion of the excellent author of the ' Sylva :' 

" ' Here we may not omit what learned men have ob- 
served concerning the custom of prophets and persons 
inspired of old to sleep upon the boughs and branches of 
trees, on mattresses and beds made of leaves, ad con- 
sulendum, to ask advice of God. Naturalists tell us that 
the Laurus and Agnus Castus were trees which greatly 
composed the phrensy, and did facilitate true vision, and 
that the first was specifically efficacious to inspire a poet- 
ical fury ; and Cardan, I remember, in his book de Fato, 
insists very much on the dreams of trees for portents 
and presages, and that the use of some of them do dis- 
pose men to visions.' 

" During the revery of the opium-eater (not the deep 
sleep of a full dose, but the first and second stage ere 
coma be induced), he is indeed a poet, so far as brilliant 
imagination is concerned." 

"Ben Jonson," writes Aubrey, "would many times 
exceede in drink ; Canarie was his beloved liquor ; then 
he would tumble home to bed, and, when he had thor- 
oughly perspired, then to studie." 

Dr. Abercrombie states that he attended a gentleman 
afi'ected with a painful disease, requiring the use of large 
opiates. On one occasion, the opiates having failed to 
produce sleep, the gentleman beheld passing before him 
a number of the celebrities of the day discussing some 
occurrences of a recent date, and heard their speeches 
and conversations, some of which were in rhyme, and 
was able to repeat much of it the next day. 

I am acquainted with a lady residing on a farm in 
Central New York, who, while suffering from a severe 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. HI 

attack of the toothache, was induced by her friends to 
partake generously of alcoholic drinks to " drown the 
pain ;" soon becoming slightly inebriated, she astonished 
all in the house with her wonderful power of song, sing- 
ing with a sweetness and pathos truly touching; yet she 
declared she had never before been able to more than 
" hum a tune," having had no musical education. This is 
an instance of spirit-power, direct evidence of the ability 
of disembottled spirits " to manifest in the form." 

3. Li slumber. 

We have abundant testimony to the fact of abnormal 
exaltation of the mental faculties during sleep. Miss 
Cobbe, in her thoughtful essay on "Unconscious Cere- 
bration," cites several cases of poetical talent being called 
into existence during slumber. She cites the case of a 
lady who confessed to have been pondering, on the day 
before her dream, on the many duties which " bound her 
to life." This metaphorical allusion became in her sleep 
a visible allegory. " She dreamed that Life — a strong, 
calm, cruel woman — was binding her limbs with steel 
fetters, which she felt as well as saw, and Death, as an 
angel of mercy, hung hovering in the distance, unable to 
approach or deliver her. In this most singular dream 
her feelings found expression in the following touching 
verses, which she remembered on waking, and which 
she has permitted me to quote precisely in the frag- 
mentary state in which they remained in her memory : 

" ' Then I cried, with weary breath, 
Oh, be merciful, great Death ! 
Take me to thy kingdom deep, 
Where grief is stilled in sleep, 
Where the weary hearts find rest. 



112 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" 'Ah, kind Death, it cannot be 
That there is no room for me 
In all thy chambers vast. 
See ! strong Life has bound me fast: 
Break her chains and set me free. 

" 'But cold Death makes no reply — 
Will not hear my bitter cry. 
Cruel Life still holds me fast, 
Yet true Death must come at last, 
Conquer Life, and set me free !' " 

Miss Cobbe also refers to a ladj of her acquaintance 
who composed a dream-poem which merits attention, as 
she observes, " seeing that the dreamer in her waking 
hours is not a poet, and that the poem she dreamed is in 
French, in which she can speak fluently, but in which 
she believes herself utterly unable to compose a verse." 

Abercrombie ("Intellectual Powers") gives the follow- 
ing interesting instances of mental exaltation in the hours 
of slumber: 

" Dr. Franklin informed Cabanis that the bearings and 
issues of perplexing political events were frequently un- 
folded to him in his dreams. A gentleman had been 
reading an account of the cruelties inflicted by the Turks 
on the Christians, and in his sleep dreamed that he was 
a witness of similar scenes, and heard a Turk address 
the sufferer in some doggerel rhymes, which he was 
enabled to repeat in the morning. 

"A distinguished lawyer of Scotland was occupied in 
a case which severely taxed his attention and was at- 
tended with much difficulty. In his sleep he arose, and, 
proceeding to his writing-desk, wrote for some time and 
returned to bed. In the morning he informed his wife 
he had had a remarkable dream, in which the perplexities 
of the case had been clearly unraveled, but was unable to 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSIOK. HB 

recall it. His wife directed bim to his desk, wbere he 
found a full and luminous opinion on the case, written 
out in his own hand. 

"... They [somnambulists] in some cases repeat 
long pieces of poetry, often more correctly than they can 
do in their waking state, and not unfrequently things 
which they could not repeat in their state of health, or 
of which they were supposed to be entirely ignorant. In 
other cases, they hold conversations with imaginary 
beings, or relate circumstances and conversations which 
occurred at remote periods, and which they were sup- 
posed to have forgotten. Some have been known to 
sing in a style far superior to anything they could do in 
their waking state, and there are some well-authenticated 
instances of persons in this condition expressing them- 
selves correctly in languages with which they were im- 
perfectly acquainted." 

Sir Isaac Newton solved a subtle mathematical problem 
whilst sleeping; Condorcet recognized in his dreams the 
final steps of a difficult calculation, which had baffled his 
powers during the day; and Cabanis asserts that while 
engaged on his " Cours d'Etude," Condillac frequently 
during slumber developed and finished in his dreams a 
subject which he had broken off before retiring to bed.* 

A member of my own family, duringthe half-unconscious 
slumber preceding waking, dreamed that she was writing 
a romance, and each morning she took up the thread of 
thought where waking from sleep had interrupted it on 
the previous morning. So interested did she become in the 
plot and incidents, as they shaped themselves in her mind, 
without any effort of creative power, that she experienced 
as much pleasure as if she had been reading some new 

* Abercrombie : "Intellectual Powers," p. 234. 
10* 



114 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

work of a favorite author. She could retain but a faint 
recollection of the incidents, and had but a vague im- 
pression of the grandeur and sublimity of the style. I 
recollect a fact in my own experience of somewhat similar 
nature. I had been deeply interested in researches on 
the ancient forms of worship, and was very anxious to 
see a certain work which treated on the religion of the 
Sabeans, but could not procure it. In my dreams I 
thought I had obtained the book and eagerly perused its 
pages. The perusal of the work continued for several 
nights, and I was much surprised to find how admirably 
the author handled the subject and how clearly he pre- 
sented it in all of its aspects. Of course, the eloquent 
and lucid reasonings of the " learned author" were in 
perfect harmony with my own conjectures, which, how- 
ever, had not been arranged into any systematic order, 
but were existing in my mind in a confused manner. 

Dr. Winslow remarks that in this condition "phases 
of intellectual vigor and states of mental acuteness are 
developed which were not normal manifestations during 
waking hours, and did not exist in conditions of healthy 
thought." 

4. In magnetic somnolency. 

That the " mesmeric" sleep often awakens powers of the 
mind into action hitherto unknown is now too well estab- 
lished to admit of refutation. The nature of the experi- 
ments made upon mesmeric subjects has been such as to 
absolutely preclude the possibility of longer attempting to 
account for them on the supposition that the mind of 
the magnetizer is the sole source of all the intelligence 
evolved. I admit that in ordinary experiments in "elec- 
tro-biology" it is undoubtedly true that the mind of the 
operator determines the action. If he declares the 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 115 

"subject" to be hot or cold, his independent mental ac- 
tion is suspended, and he feels as the mind of the opera- 
tor wills, — not simply because the operator wills it, but 
because his own reasoning faculties and will are in 
abeyance, and he feels that he must be as the other de- 
clares. But when the subject enters the deep trance con- 
dition, and displays mental powers impossible to account 
for through control of the imagination, and resulting in 
actions entirely unsuspected, or giving information un- 
known to the operator, some other explanation must be 
resorted to. 

In the magnetic state we may observe an exaltation 
of the mental faculties oftentimes bordering ou the in- 
credible. The intellectual faculties seem to be quickened, 
and questions are frequently discussed which, in waking 
moments, are far beyond the reach of the normal capa- 
bility of the mind. Subjects also experience a wonderful 
development of memory, which, on passing into their 
normal condition, it is impossible to retain. In addition 
to the superior coherence of thought sometimes mani- 
fested, we discover a power to perceive objects in the 
deepest darkness, or to hear sounds in distant rooms, 
sounds which fail to reach the ears of others ; and this in 
cases where the object seen or sound heard is unknown to 
the operator or any one j)resent. 

I am aware that those who believe we can receive no 
impression except by the usual action of the senses will 
doubt the correctness of these statements ; for their theory 
has no place for such facts as may be brought to substan- 
tiate it. That sensation is seated in the senses, rather than 
in the mind, is an unproven assertion. Thus, the prepar- 
atives of sensation have been confounded with sensation 
itself; but, as Sir James Mackintosh has admirably ob- 
served, " All the changes in our organs which can be 



116 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

likened to other material phenomena are nothing more 
than antecedents and prerequisites of perception, bearing 
not the faintest likeness to it : as much outward in relation 
to the thinking principle as if they occurred in any other 
part of matter, and of which the entire comprehension, if 
it were attained, would not bring us a step nearer to the 
nature of thought." 

A few illustrations of the exaltation of faculties in artifi- 
cial somnambulism, when carefully witnessed and verified 
by competent persons, are worth more than pages of 
theorizing or assertions, and will be more welcome to the 
reader. The Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, in his 
" Facts in Mesmerism," cites many experiments, performed 
under the most careful scrutiny, evidencing the truth of 
these statements. From his work the following illus- 
tration is quoted : 

" Remembering that E. A , on his father's testi- 
mony, had in natural sleep-waking seemed to perceive in 
total darkness, I was curious to ascertain whether in mes- 
meric sleep-waking he would manifest a similar phenom- 
enon of sensation. I therefore, having mesmerized him, 
took him with me into a dark press or closet, of which I 
employed a friend to hold to the door in such a manner 
as that no ray of light could penetrate through crevice or 
keyhole. Then, like the hero of ' The Curse of Kehama,' 

'I opened my eyes and I closed them, 

And the blackness and the blank were the same.' 

" My utmost efforts to see my hand only produced those 
sparks and flashes which waver before the eye in complete 
obscurity. Having thus ascertained the perfect darkness 
of the closet, I drew a card, at hazard, from a pack with 
which I had provided myself, and presented it to the 
sleep-waker. He said it was so and so. I repeated this 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. Hf 

to my friend, whom I then told to open the door. The 
admission of light established the correctness of the 
sleep-waker ; it was the card he had named. The expei'i- 
ments repeated four times gave the same satisfactory 
result. This peculiar development of vision was, like the 
other faculties of the sleep-waker, capable of improvement 
through exercise. At first he seemed unable to read in 
the dark ; then, like a person learning the alphabet, he 
came to distinguish large single letters which I had 
printed for him on a card ; and at length he could make 
out whole sentences of even small print. While thus 
engaged in deciphering letters, or in ascertaining cards, 
the patient always held one of my hands, and sometimes 
laid it on my brow, affirming that it increased his clair- 
voyance. He would also beg me to breathe upon the 
objects which he desired to see. He used to declare that 
the more complete the darkness was, the better he could 
exercise his new mode of perception, asserting, that, when 
in the dark, he did not come to the knowledge of objects 
in the same manner as when he was in the light. Often 
when I could not see a ray of light he used to complain 
that the closet was not dark enough, and in order to 
thicken the obscurity he would wrap up his head in a 
dressing-gown which hung in the closet.. At other times 
he would thrust his head into the remotest corner of the 
press. His perception of color, when exercised in obscu- 
rity, sustained but little alteration. He has named cor- 
rectly the different tints of a set of colored glasses. It 
was, however, worthy of remark that he was apt to mis- 
take between the harmonic colors, green and red, not only 
when he was in the dark, but when his eyes were bandaged. 
" Many persons can bear testimony to the accuracy of 
the above experiments ; and I refer to the Appendix for 
proofs that I sought for witnesses and invited scrutiny, 



118 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

feeling that such things as I had to narrate could scarcely 
be credited on the word of a single person." 

In the Appendix we find a number of statements drawn 
by witnesses to these interesting experiments. M. Yan 
Owenhuysen, of Antwerp, Dr. Foissac, of Paris, Baron 
de Carlowiz, of Berne, Dr. Wild, of Berne, and others, 
give interesting descriptions of mesmeric " manifesta- 
tions" witnessed by them where clairvoyance was shown 
to exist, independently of the minds of those present. 
Strong testimony would indeed be required to convince 

us that " E. A ," his best subject, with eyes securely 

bandaged, could read two hundred pages of print, and 
even written music ; yet it was thoroughly tested. Signer 
Ranieri, of Naples, and the distinguished Professor 
Agassiz, relate their experience when under the mes- 
meric control of Mr. Townshend. Among these letters 
is one from Dr. Filippi, of Milan, which, being brief, 
may be quoted in this connection : 

" M. Valdrighi, advocate, had his sense of hearing so 
exquisite and exalted that he could hear words pronounced 
at the distance of two rooms, the doors of which were 
shut, although pronounced in a weak and low voice. 

" The exaltation of life which is observed in some 
patients attains such a height, that one of them could 
see the most delicate and minute objects in the greatest 
darkness. This is noticed in nervous and very delicate 
persons." 

The case of Miss Brackett, who lived in Providence, 
R. I., some thirty or forty- years since, has been pub- 
lished and commented on by many, though now perhaps 
forgotten. While totally blind, — the result of an injury, — 
she manifested clairvoyant powers in a high degree. 
Abundant testimony was collected and published, which 
now lies before me, showing conclusively that she had 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. Hg 

the power to corrcctlj read sealed letters. The well- 
known case of Jane Rider, and many others, could also 
be quoted, if enough had not already been said, as well 
as instances occurring in the personal knowledge of the 
writer, where his " subjects" have told him facts which 
at the time were unknown to him, but subsequently veri- 
fied. Many cases might be cited of more recent date, but 
I have preferred to take those where the circumstances 
were such as to preclude the possibility of deception. 

Did space permit, I could cite cases of oratory, philo- 
sophical composition, drawing, painting, reading, etc., de- 
veloped by some of the above causes or others, in each case 
ability being displayed far transcending the person's natu- 
ral habits or powers of thought. In natural somnambulism 
we find the same phenomena ; and these two states are too 
closely related to each other not to be classified under one 
and the same great law. In the mesmeric " subject" we 
have an " operator," but in somnambulism the subject 
and operator are one. A case is narrated in the French 
Encyclopedia, which occurred under the observation of 
the Archbishop of Bordeaux. A young minister was a 
somnambulist, and was observed to rise in the night aud 
" take paper, pen and ink, and proceed to the composition 
of sermons. Having written a page in a clear, legible 
hand, he would read it aloud from top to bottom, with a 
clear voice and proper emphasis. If a passage did not 
please him, he would erase it, and write the correction, 
plainly, in its proper place, over the erased line or word. 
All this was done without any assistance from the eye, 
which was evidently asleep. A piece of pasteboard inter- 
posed between the eye' and the paper produced no inter- 
ruption or inconvenience. When his paper was exchanged 
for another of the same size, he was not aware of the 



120 TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

change; but when a paper of different size was substi- 
tuted, he at once detected the difference." 

Professor Haven relates the following remarkable in- 
stances in his Mental Philosophy : 

" In a certain school for young ladies — I think in 
France — prizes had been offered for the best paintings. 
Among the competitors was a young and timid girl, who 
was conscious of her inferiority in the art, yet strongly 
desirous of success. For a time she was quite dissatis- 
fied with the progress of her work ; but by-and-by began 
to notice, as she resumed her pencil in the morning, that 
something had been added to the work since she last 
touched it. This was noticed for some time, and quite 
excited her curiosity. The additions were evidently by a 
superior hand, far excelling her own in skill and work- 
manship. Her companions denied, each and severally, 
all knowledge of the matter. She placed articles of furni- 
ture against her door in such a way that any one enter- 
ing would be sure to awaken her. They were undis- 
turbed; but still the mysterious additions continued to 
be made. At last her companions concluded to watch 
without and make sure that no one entered her apart- 
ment during the night ; but still the work went on. At 
length it occurred to them to watch her movements ; and 
now the mystery was explained. They saw her, evi- 
dently in sound sleep, rise, dress, take her place at the 
table, and commence her work. It was her own hand 
that, unconsciously to herself, had executed the work in 
a style which in her waking moments she could not 
approach, and which quite surpassed all competition. 
The picture, notwithstanding her protestations that it 
was not her painting, took the prize." 

Here we have an " accredited manifestation," thor- 
oughly tested by the most approved methods known in 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 121 

"investigating circles," and sufficiently satisfactory to 
the spiritist to set up a medium in business. This case 
presents as strong " evidence" of a " controlling inOu- 
ence" as most of those recorded in the spirital journals 
of our day, and nine out of ten would unhesitatingly 
accept the work of the somnambule as that of a " spirit- 
artist." Professor Haven's remarks on this and analo- 
gous instances are so pertinent that I sliall quote at some 
length from them : 

" How is it, now, that in a state of sleep, with the 
eye probably fast closed, and the room in darkness, this 
girl can use the pencil in a manner so superior to an^- 
. thing that she can do in the daytime, with her eyes open 
and in the full possession and employment of her senses 
and her will ? 

'^ Here are, in fact, several things to be accounted for. 
How is it that the somnambulist rises and moves about 
in a state of apparently sound sleep? How is it that 
she performs actions requiring often a high degree of in- 
telligence, and yet without apparent consciousness ? How 
is it that she moves fearlessly and safely, as is often the 
case, over places where she could not stand for a moment 
in her waking state without the greatest danger ? How 
is it that she can see without the eye, and perform actions 
in utter darkness, requiring the nicest attention and the 
best vision, and not only do them, but in such a manner 
as even to surpass what can be done by the same person in 
any other state under the most favorable circumstances ? 
***** j^ 

" Another and much more reasonable supposition [than 
the automatic theory] is that the will, which ordinarily 
in sleep loses control both over the mind and the body, 
in the state of somnambulism regains, in some way and 
to some extent, its power over the latter, so that the body 

F 11 



122 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

rises and moves about in accordance with the thought 
and feeling that happened at the moment to be pre- 
dominant in the mind. There is no control of the will 
over those thoughts and suggestions : they are spontane- 
ous, undirected, casual, subject only to the ordinary laws 
of association ; but for the time, whether owing to the 
greater vividness and force of these suggestions and im- 
pressions, or to the disturbed and partially aroused state 
of the sensorial organism, the will, acting in accordance 
with these suggestions of the mind, so far regains its 
power over the bodily organism that locomotion ensues. 
The dream is then simply acted out. The body rises, 
the hand resumes the pen, and the appropriate move- „ 
ments and actions corresponding to the conceptions of 
the mind in its dream are duly performed. . . . 

" Whatever theory we adopt, or even if we adopt none, 
we must admit, I think, in view of the facts in the case, 
that in certain disordered and highly-excited states of the 
nervous system, as, e.g., when weakened by disease so 
that ordinary causes affect it more powerfully than usual, 
it can, and does sometimes, perceive what, under ordinary 
circumstances, is not perceptible to the eye or to the ear ; 
nay, even dispenses with the use of eye and ear and the 
several organs of special sense. This occurs, as we have 
seen, in somnambulism, or natural magnetic sleep. We 
meet with the same thing also in even stranger forms, in 
the mesmeric state, and in some species of insanity. 

" So far as regards the purely mental part of the phe- 
nomena, the operations of the mind in somnambulism, 
there is nothing which is not easily explained. In som- 
nambulism, as indeed in all these states so closely con- 
nected,— sleep, dreams, the mesmeric process, and even 
insanity,— the will loses its controlling power over the train 
of thought, and, consequently, the thought or feeling that 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 123 

happens to be dominant gives rise to, and entirely 
shapes, the actious that may in that state be per- 
formed." 

In chapter iv. we shall have occasion to investigate 
the causes of these singular phenomena somewhat more 
closely : it is enough in this connection to show that such 
cases do exist. I am well aware that the spiritists 
will claim that these cases are explicable only on their 
theory: in fact, the "spirits" inform' us, through the 
Banner of Light, that fully one-third of the cases of in- 
sanity are really the result of " obsession;" but the intel- 
ligent reader would hardly care to read any very lengthy 
refutation of this antiquated opinion, and I certainly shall 
not so far trespass on his good nature at present. He 
would doubt the necessity for controverting a theory 
which assumes that organic affection of the brain is an 
essential condition to establish a connection between this 
world and the next, or that intoxicating drinks render 
the brain more passive and therefore more susceptible to 
spiritual influences. That some can believe that the 
dreamer is inspired, the opium-eater "obsessed," or that 
the somnambule's clearness of vision is the result of sjnr- 
itual agents, who return to amaze us by selecting the 
knave of clubs from a pack of cards, need not surprise 
us, when we think of the fact that the distinguished 
French savant M. Taui Broca has collected a library of 
works published during the present century to sustain 
the theory that the earth is not spherical, but flat. 

In the cases instanced above, the hypothesis of an 
" influence" operating from the unseen side of life was 
never once asserted by the persons supposed to be under 
such control. In most of the instances cited I -have 
chosen those which antedated the advent of our modern 
polytheism; and as, very singularly, the "unseen influ- 



124 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ences" forgot to state that they were " spirits," we may 
reasonably decline to adopt that assumption at this late 
day. 

Thus it appears that " manifestations" as surprising as 
those witnessed in the " circle" have been recorded as 
arising from certain states of the nervous system, and, 
under "right conditions," have occurred without the aid 
of any mythical "influence" whatever. If affection of 
the brain can produce them, if stimulants may call them 
into action, if slumber may arouse faculties of even the 
existence of which we were unaware, it certainly would 
be more in accordance with scientific thought to expect 
that other causes might also excite their manifestation. 
As we shall see hereafter, the powers of the mind are far 
from being capable of definite limitation, and it were 
foolhardy to assert that any act of mental exaltation must 
have external spiritual origin. 

If a person can play on a musical instrument, or paint, 
while in a somnambulic or trance state, and — as we posi- 
tively know — possess the power of entering that condi- 
tion at will without the aid of a " mesmerizer," then as 
evidence of mediumship for departed spirits it is not 
only contemptible, but a reflection on the intelligence of 
those capable of urging it. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 125 



CHAPTER III. 

" OBSESSION." 

1. Evidence of the senses. 

In the preceding chapter we have seen that the mere 
fact of an extraordinary exaltation of the mental powers 
does not in itself furnish us with conclusive evidence that 
it must necessarily have proceeded from an intelligence 
distinct from ourselves, and have also seen sufficient 
reason to refuse the use of the supposition as even a 
probable cause. In spiritism, however, we find accom- 
panying these states of mental exaltation the claim of 
distinct personality : the medium, in conversation or in 
writing, while conscious that his acts are not the result of 
his own normal powers, is also conscious of a claim put 
forth through him that they are the work of some other 
intelligent agency. Thus he finds that he not only 
writes better — though this is not the case universally — 
than in his normal condition, but that the writing is 
signed with the name of sojie deceased person ; the 
power controlling him aj)pai'entiy asserts a distinct in- 
dividuality. 

In considering the claim of "obsession," or the pos- 
session of a mcirtal by a disembodied spirit, we shall find 
that the evidence is equally weak when submitted to 
close scrutiny. In exam'uiiig the arguments adduced in 
support of* this theory, we find the spiritist generally 
laying great stress on the testimony of his senses. He 
gravely assures us that he cannot argue the question on 
the ground of probability, for he has personal knowledge ; 

11* 



126 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

be has himself been conscious of being a willing or un- 
willing instrument in the hands of "spirits;" his eyes 
have beheld theai, his hands grasped them, his ears 
heard them, or thej have controlled him on many oc- 
casions, even against his will. Let us examine this 
evidence of the senses. 

In the first place, we have abundant evidence that the 
senses are not always trustworthy, and may frequently 
deceive us. Dr. Winslow cites the following passage 
from a letter addressed to him by a patient : " I am a 
martyr to a species of persecution from within, which 
is becoming intolerable. I am urged to say the most 
shocking things. Blasphemous and obscene words are 
ever on the tip of my tongue. Hitherto, thank God ! I 
have been able to resist, but I often think I must yield 
at last ; and then I shall be disgraced forever. I solemnly 
assure you that I hear a voice which seems to be within 
me, pi'ompting me to utter what I would turn from with 
disgust if uttered by another. If I were not afraid you 
would smile, I should say there is no way for accounting 
for these extraordinary articulate whisperings but by 
supposing that an evil spirit has obtained possession of 
me for a time." 

The spirital " physician" would at once exclaim that the 
patient was right so to think ; his " Theory of the Uni- 
verse" readily finds a niche for such facts. But the intelli- 
gent physician would regard the matter far differently : 
to him it would be evidence of disordered mental action, 
requiring other treatment than a process of " develop- 
ment" and harmonizing circles, if he would not see 
health entirely destroyed and death rendered inevitable. 
" These symptoms," remarks Dr. Winslow, " long before 
tliey are recognized to be morbid, cause much acute and 
bitter anguish, concealed suffering, great and unobserved 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 127 

misery in the bosoms of families, often sapping the foun- 
dation of domestic happiness. A. contest of this nature 
in an unhealthy but not yet insane mind has continued 
for a long- period unknown, except to the wretched suf- 
ferer, before the intellect has succumbed to its baneful 
and destructive influence." 

The spiritist smiles derisively at the charge of dis- 
ordered mental action, as obviously at fault in many 
instances, and asserts that his case cannot be so con- 
strued, as the different senses unite in confirming the 
distinct individuality of the power claiming to control 
him. When Copernicus published his theory of the 
rotundity of the earth, he was met with shouts of de- 
rision. " Trust to your senses !" was the response of the 
deriding populace. When Galileo announced his dis- 
covery^f Jupiter's satellites, the opponents of "mole- 
eyed science" again renewed the cry of " Trust to your 
senses !" This appeal to the senses has been thrown into 
the faces of all devotees of science in their struggles to 
reduce discord to order, fancy to reality. And again in 
our day the same senseless cry is parrot-like repeated, 
furnishing us, if nothing else, additional evidence of " the 
power of the mind to resist knowledge." A dominant 
idea, when once in full possession of the mind, may be 
as productive of delusion as drugs or disease. The 
studied " development" of abnormal faculties under the 
impression that the source of the action is due to invisi- 
ble beings, necessarily shapes the "manifestation," and 
produces the assertion of distinct individuality on the 
part of the assumed "influence." 

" It is immaterial," says Dr. Draper, in " The Intel- 
lectual Development of Europe," " in what manner or 
by what agency our susceptibility to the impressions of 
surrounding objects is benumbed whether by drugs, or 



128 THE Sri RITUAL DELUSION. 

sleep, or disease ; as soon as their force is no greater 
than that of forms already registered in the brain, these 
last will emerge before us, and dreams or apparitions 
are the result. So liable is the mind to practice decep- 
tion on itself, that with the utmost difficulty it is aware 
of the delusion. No man can submit to long-continued 
and rigorous fasting without becoming the subject of 
these hallucinations ; and the more he enfeebles his 
organs of sense, the more vivid is the exhibition, the more 
profound the deception. An ominous sentence may per- 
haps be incessantly whispered in his ear ; to his fixed or 
fascinated eye some grotesque or abominable object may 
perpetually present itself. To the hermit in the solitude 
of his cell there doubtless often did appear, by the un- 
certain light of his lamp, obscene shadows of diabolical 
import ; doubtless there was many an agony witkfiends, 
many a struggle with monsters, satyrs, and imp^ many 
an earnest, solemn, and manful controversy with Satan 
himself, who sometimes came as an aged man, sometimes 
with a countenance of horrible intelligence, and some- 
times as a female fearfully beautiful. St. Jerome, who 
with the utmost difficulty had succeeded in extinguish- 
ing all carnal desires, ingenuously confesses bow sorely 
he was tried by this last device of the enemy, how nearly 
the ancient flames were rekindled. As to the reality of 
these apparitions, why should a hermit be led to suspect 
that they arose from the natural working of his own 
brain ? Men never dream that they are dreaming. To 
him they were terrible realities; to us they should be the 
proofs of insanity, but not of imposture." 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 129 

2. Tlie ivitchcrafl delusion. 

We are not limited, however, to aclinowledged cases of 
disordered mental action for illustrations of the unrelia- 
bility of the senses when their testimony is claimed as 
evidence of "spirit-manifestations." Without havin"- 
recourse to the columns of spirital journals, the pages 
of history furnish us with numerous instances of sup- 
posed " manifestations" by, and intercourse with, invis- 
ible beings. Some of these we need to reperuse in order 
to be better prepared to arrive at a just conclusion. 

Let us turn our attention to the records of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, when witchcraft was more 
prevalent in Europe than spiritism has yet become in our 
land. Witchcraft and spiritism present many points of 
correspondence. The spiritists themselves generally ad- 
mit this, and claim that witchcraft was but a form of 
" spirit-intercourse ;" that, finding the effort to open com- 
munication between the two worlds only resulting in 
erroneous views and personal suflTering, the sublimated 
authors of the movement generously consented to forego 
their endeavors and wait a more favorable opportunity. 
In that age the supernatural was as readily admitted by 
the learned as the unlearned; the existence o^ "spirit- 
intercourse" was undoubted ; but our ancestors, with 
singular obtuseness, could not but regard "obsession" as 
the work of evil spirits. Readily admitting the spirital 
hypothesis, their minds were so clouded with theological 
dogmas and bigotry as to be unable to imagine that a 
denizen of the brighter world of spiritual existence could 
desire to return to obsess mortals to dance or leap ! 
Strangely enough, however, we find these bewitched 
persons claiming in their " obsessed" moments to be in- 
fluenced by denizens of the pit ! 



130 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

In the early days of the struggle between the Dis- 
senters and the Established Church of England, both 
parties claimed the power to exorcise spirits who had ob- 
tained possession of a mortal medium. The memorable 
ease of Richard Dugdale was one of the most remarkable 
brought forward by the Dissenters. This rustic youth 
had sold his soul to the devil, in the parlance of the day, 
in order to become the best dancer in Lancashire. 
Anxious to relieve him from this demoniacal control, the 
Dissenters appointed a committee of clergymen, who pro- 
posed to exorcise the demon by the usual course of fasting 
and prayer. They labored for a year, but without accom- 
plishing their purpose. Though unable to exorcise the 
demon, they grew quite familiar with him, as the follow- 
ing specimen of their railing will exhibit : " What, Satan ! 
is this the dancing that Richard gave himself to thee 
for ? Canst thou dance no better ? Ransack the old 
records of all past time and places in thy memory : canst 
thou not then find out some better way of trampling? 
Pump thine invention dry : cannot the universal seed- 
plot of subtle wiles and stratagems spring up one new 
method of cutting capers ? Is this the top of skill and 
pride, to shuffle feet and brandish knees thus, and to trip 
like a doe, and skip like a squirrel? And vi'herein differ 
thy leapings from the hoppiiigs of a frog, or the bouncing 
of a goat, or the friskings of a dog, or gesticulations of 
a monkey ? And cannot palsy shake such a loose leg as 
that? Dost thou not twirl like a calf that hath the turn, 
and twitch up thy houghs just like a springhalt tit ?" 

Inhow many particulars does this remind me of "cir- 
cles" in which I have sat with patient waiting for some 
" test," always promised, yet never realized! Often in 
the State of Vermont I have beard the shade of Ethan 
Allen addressed, if not in similar language, yet with 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 131 

equal familiarity ; an unusual thump of tlie table occur- 
ring- would be gieeted with ejaculations of " That's old 
Ethan!" "How are you, Ethan ?" I have sat thus for 
an hour or more, and at last had my patience rewarded 
by beholding a member of the company " controlled" to 
dance for as long a time without apparent exhaustion, 
and with the others I marveled much, but from a far 
different reason ! 

During the year 1811, the Banner of Light con- 
tained, a complimentary notice of the advent of a new 

medium, Mrs. P , who gave dancing seances "under 

influence," and was regarded by the faithful as a re- 
markable test-medium. If the assertion of the "influ- 
ence" through Mrs. P is a positive test, what shall 

we call the assertion of his Satanic majesty through 
Richard Dugdale ? 

The Established Church also had its cases of Satanic 
obsessions. The once famous case of the witches of 
Warbois may furnish us with an instance of the length to 
which the " evidence of the senses" may go. The witclies 
were a Mother Samuel and her husband, both very old 
and poor persons, and a daughter, a young woman. The 
daughter of a Mr. Throgmorton, being taken ill, fancied 
that Mother Samuel had bewitched her. The other 
children of the family sympathetically joined in the cry, 
and " investigation" began. The parents heard the chil- 
dren during their paroxysms carrying on a conversation 
with some invisible persons, and, when the children re- 
covered, learned from their lips the nature of the remarks 
made by the "spirits." Sir Walter Scott, in his "Letters 
on Demonology and Witchcraft," gives us a description of 
this tragical event, from which the following lively con- 
versation between the " spirit" and one of the girls is 
taken : 



132 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" The names of the spirits were Pluck, Ilarclname, 
Catch, Blue, and three Smacks, who were cousins. Joan 
Throgmorton, the eldest, supposed that one of the Smacks 
was her lover, did battle for her with the less friendly 
spirits, and promised to protect her against Mother 
Samuel herself; and the following curious extract will 
show on what a footing of familiarity the damsel stood 
with her spiritual gallant : ' From whence came you, Mr. 
Smack?' says the afflicted young lady ; ' and what news 
do you bring?' Smack, nothing abashed, informed her 
he came from fighting with Pluck: the weapons, great 
cowl-staves, — the scene, a ruinous bakehouse in Dame 
Samuel's yard. 'And who got the mastery, I pray you ?' 
said the damsel. Smack answered, he had broken 
Pluck's head. ' I would,' said the damsel, ' he had 
broken your neck also.' 'Is that the thanks I am to 
have for my labor ?' said the disappointed Smack. ' Look 
you for thanks at my hand ?' said the distressed maiden. 
' I would you were all hanged up against each other, with 
your dame for company, for you are all naught.' On this 
repulse exit Smack, and enter Pluck, Blue, and Catch, 
the first with his head broken, the other limping, and the 
third with his arm in a sling, all trophies of Smack's 
victory. They disappeared, after having threatened 
vengeance upon the conquering Smack. . . . Miss 
Throgmorton and her sisters railed against Dame Samuel ; 
and when Mr. Throgmorton brought her to his house by 
force, the little fiends longed to draw blood of her, 
scratch her, and torture her, as the witch-creed of that 
period recommended ; yet the poor woman incurred deeper 
suspicion when she expressed a wish to leave a house 
where she was so coarsely treated and lay under such 
odious suspicion." This unfortunate w^oman was at 
length worried into a confession of her guilt, and, with 



I 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 133 

her husband and daughter, was condemned and exe- 
cuted. 

In this case the delusion existed in the minds of the 
persons supposed to be bewitched, and on the testimony 
of their senses sufficient evidence was obtained to cause 
the execution of these poor people. Nor need we be sur- 
prised at instances of confession on the part of the accused, 
when we consider the means so often applied for extorting 
them ; but the following case so fully illustrates the folly 
of relying upon the senses alone in regard to phenomena 
of this character, that it is commended to the attention 
of those who delight in collecting " accredited manifesta- 
tions" to substantiate conjecture. 

In the Swedish village of Mohra, about the middle of 
the seventeenth century, the witchcraft mania had become 
so general, and involved so many of the inhabitants, that 
the government sent royal commissioners to investigate* 
the matter and punish the guilty, if such there were. The 
complaints, attested by persons of all classes, were that 
certain individuals, instigated by Satan, had bewitched 
several hundred children, who were daily " obsessed" by 
demons. In this village alone threescore and ten were 
seized and imprisoned on this charge, of whom twenty- 
three confessed to the crime alleged and were executed. 
In the" record of this case we may read, "Fifteen of the 
children were also led to death. Six-and-thirty of those 
who were young were forced to run the gauntlet, as it is 
termed, and were, besides, lashed weekly at the church 
door for a whole year. Twenty of the youngest were 
condemned to the same discipline for three days only." 

The process adopted by the commissioners was to con- 
front the children with the so-called witches, and listen 
to the accusations made by the children, who persisted in 
their tale notwithstanding the flogging which awaited 

12 



134 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

them. Three hundred of the children were found who 
substantially agreed in the following improbable tale: 
Under instructions from the witches, they were wont to 
assemble at a cross-way and invoke the presence of the 
devil, requesting him to convey them to Blockula, a 
mountain famous for witches' gatherings. The children 
gave a minute description of his majesty and the methods 
of transportation provided by him. Here was positive 
" evidence" equal to that so often related to us in the 
present time by trance-7Jiec?u(??is. On the spirital hypoth- 
esis, can stronger evidence be conceived than that which 
convinced these children with the fear of death before 
their eyes and actually visited upon some of their number? 
Whatwerelearnedjudges to think, with the spirital theory 
firmly established in their minds, when witches and be- 
witched both united in substantiating the truth of the 
charges, and gave minute descriptions of the feasts held 
on the " Devil's Sabbath" ? when the children agreed in 
the statement that they had conversed with the arch-fiend 
himself, and the witches confessed to having "sons and 
daughters by the fiends, who were married together, and 
produced an oS'spring of toads and serpents" ? 

If " obsession" was a delusion, then was the method 
of investigation a false one ; if it was real, the public 
floggings sent the " spirits" off on other business, and 
benefited society: a conclusion giving rise to another 
conclusion, as applicable to-day as it was two hundred 
years since ! 

Belief in the marvelous and the supernatural was uni- 
versal, and the reality of these nocturnal gatherings was 
unquestioned. His infernal highness, we are told, left a 
very unpleasant odor behind ; and we find this fact duly 
explained in accordance with the spirital science of that 
time by a Mr. Granville, in terms which, if he were now 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 135 

living, would entitle liim to a conspicuous position in the 
ranks of modern necromancy. " This," he says, " seems 
to imply the reality of the business, these ascititious pai-- 
ticles which he held together in his sensible shape being 
loosened at his vanishing, and so offending the nostrils 
by their floating and diffusing themselves in the open 
air !" 

Let us now examine a still different case. The confes- 
sion of a Scotch witch, Isobel Gowdin, extremely minute 
in its description of the spirital under-world, is interesting 
from the fact that it was voluntarily made, and exists judi- 
cially authenticated by the signatures of the notary, clergy- 
men, and gentlemen present, was adhered to after frequent 
examinations, and contains no variation or contradiction 
in its details. Isobel gave a full and definite account of 
the pastimes enjoyed by the fiends, their names and per- 
sonal appearance, the songs sung, the materials of their 
feasts, and the strange ceremonials of their " Sabbaths." 
Metamorphoses into the forms of cats, crows, wolves, 
hares, and other animals, were very common amono* 
witches. Isobel relates that having once been sent on 
an errand by the devil, she assumed the form of a hare, 
and had the misfortune to meet a pack of hounds. " And 
I," says Isobel, "ran a very long time, and being hard 
pressed was forced to take to my own house, the door 
being open, and there took refuge behind a chest." 

After several narrow escapes and new hiding-places, 
she gained time to say the disenchanting rhyme, — 

"Hare, hare, God send thee care! 
I am in a hare's likeness now,- 
But I shall be a womaD even now — 
Hare, hare, God send thee care!" 

Notwithstanding the severity of the laws, Isobel per- 
sisted in these declarations, and even said, " I do not 



136 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

deserve to be seated here at ease and unharmed, but 
rather to be stretched on an iron rack ; nor can mj crimes 
be atoned for were I to be drawn asunder by wild horses." 

One more case of a still different nature, and we con- 
clude. On the 8th of November, 1516, Bessie Dunlop 
was accused of sorcery and witchcraft in Ayrshire, Scot- 
land. She asserted that she obtained all her miraculous 
knowledge of disease, lost goods, and future events, from 
the spirit of one Thome Reid, who died at the battle of 
Pinkie, September 10, 1547, who answered every ques- 
tion which she addressed to him. She described her 
" spirit" friend as " a respectable, elderly-looking man, 
gray-bearded, and wearing a gray coat, with Lombard 
sleeves of the auld fashion. A pair of gray breeches, 
and white stockings gartered above the knee, a black 
bonnet on his head, close behind and plain before, with 
silken laces drawn through the tips thereof, and a white 
wand in his hand." To render it a complete "test-case," 
we learn that before his first appearance Bessie had never 
heard of him, but learned his history from his own lips, 
and had been sent on errands by him to his son and to 
others, his relatives, whom he named to her. 

One of his old neighbors, to whom Bessie was sent, she 
was to remind, in proof of the truth of her mission, that 
he had set out with Reid to go to the battle, which 
occurred on what was called Black Saturday. She was 
to recall to his mind that he had desired to pursue a 
different road, but that Thome Held had persuaded him 
to continue the journey, that when they had arrived at 
the kirk of Dairy, Reid bought a parcel of figs for him 
and presented them tied up in his handkerchief, and that 
they parted no more till the fatal field of Pinkie was 
reached. 

Here we certainly find an " accredited manifestation," 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. I37 

and are moved to listen to the revelations after so con- 
vincing- a " test." Well might Bessie Dunlop be excused 
for following the lead of one who had so completely 
" demonstrated" his existence and continued identity, 
and incline a willing ear to the tales he told of his "spirit- 
home." Let us pause to look at that beautiful " land" as 
it a[)peared in 1576. 

Bessie's ghostly adviser grew so familiar as to invite 
her to accompany him to the court of eljland, where he 
resided ; he promised to take her to the court and intro- 
duce her to the queen of the fairies, and on one occasion 
he took hold of her apron to compel her to go. This 
generous offer she never accepted, but had frequent oppor- 
tunities of seeing the fairies when they left their subter- 
ranean abode, and on one occasion had the honor of beinjr 
attended in childbirth by her majesty the fairy queen, 
who graciously waited upon her in the performance of 
the duties of a nurse. Notwithstanding her faith in her 
ghostly protector, his aid proved unavailing to save her 
from tiie sad fate of the stake. 

Though not herself a visitor to the fairy-land, her 
countrywoman, Alison Pearson, of Byrehill, in 1588, ac- 
cepted a similar invitation from a deceased cousin, one 
William Simpson, and participated in the revelries of that 
court. Isobel Gowdin, to whose voluntary confession we 
have referred, in 1662 visited the king and queen of 
elfland. She gave a very minuie description of their, 
majeslies and their lilliputian subjects :, her knowledge 
of the habits and customs of that realm was quite exten- 
sive, and might furnish some of our seers a new field of 
investigation. 

The accumulated testimony taken at Salem, Mass., is 
too well known to be dwelt upon in this connection. The 
evidence which caused a child of five yeais of age to be 

12 



138 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

indicted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and 
sufficed to bring a poor dog to the scaffold for alleged 
participation in unholy rites, was every whit as strong 
and convincing as that of our own day, which seeks to 
establish the fact of similar phenomena having a like 
origin, differing, however, from the more ancient epidemic 
delusion only in attributing the obsessing power to dis- 
embodied beings rather than to demons or fairies. 

■ • 3. Mental epidemics. 

Dr. Francis Hutchinson said the number of witches 
and their supposed Satanic intercourse would increase or 
decrease in proportion to the general belief in the proba- 
bility or impossibility of such tales. As the spiritist 
theory prevailed, charges and convictions would be found 
to augment in a terrific degree ; while under a more doubt- 
ful or critical state of the public mind the charges would 
.be disbelieved and dismissed as contemptible ; they would 
grow less and less frequent, until they ceased altogether 
to occupy the public mind. So with its modern counter- 
part, "spirit-obsession;" only in proportion as such tales 
as grace the columns of the journals of the " spiritual 
philosophy of the nineteenth century" are believed to be 
credible, will the testimony increase, and our shelves be 
in danger of becoming filled with ponderous volumes erro- 
neously called " The History of American Spiritualism." 

The sympathy existing between human minds is so 
great that a delusion, however foolish, can easily find 
mental soil in which to take root and grow with the 
rapidity of Jonah's gourd. An illustration of this is 
found in the old anecdote of a wag stopping in front of an 
English nobleman's house and intently gazing at one of 
the bronze lions on the door-step ; his fixed attention soon 
attracted a crowd of curious idlers. "By heavens! it 



THE SPIRITUAL U ELUSION. 139 

wags !" he ejaculated, pointing to the lion's tail. Soon 
the street became impassable, and a large majority of the 
"investigators" were ready to substantiate the assertion 
with their solemn oaths. Let us briefly glance over some 
historic examples of the contagious nature of intense con- 
victions, where they have become epidemic and spread 
from mind to mind in defiance of common sense and 
reason. 

In the early days of the Christian church, at least as 
soon as the fourth century, retirement to desert or soli- 
tary places became common among Christians. Shut off 
from all human intercourse, immured in some mountain 
cave, men sought to win holiness by prayer and penance. 
This desire to secure salvation through humiliation of the 
flesh became so general, we are told, that the Christian 
world was in some danger of becoming depopulated of 
its believers. At one period the sandy deserts of Egypt 
alone contained over one hundred thousand religious re- 
cluses, one-fourth being females ! In every direction 
throughout the East flocked thousands in mad quest of 
solitude. In those remote quarters of the earth enthu- 
siasts passed their lives in prayer and demoniacal adven- 
tures. Though removed from the carnal cares of the world, 
they were none the less harassed ; for spirits of the damned 
tormented or tempted them at every opportunity. In vain 
they redoubled their penances or fasted oftener to con- 
quer these creatures of the imagination: men and women 
ran naked upon all-fours, associating themselves with the 
beasts of the field, or, like St. Ammon, rejoiced in beino- 
able to assert that they had never seen their bodies un- 
covered, but the demons haunted them still. Though 
Didymus never spoke to a human betng for ninety years, 
and Anthony spent a lifetime in extinguishing all lustful 
desires, the unconquerable spirit-world delighted in pre- 



140 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 

senting before them lascivious forms to still further tempt 
their coostancy. To escape from the embrace of a beau- 
tiful spirital maiden, St. Benedict had to roll himself 
among thorns. In his presence, it is said, even the bodies 
of the sinful dead would rise from their graves in the 
church and depart to bury themselves in unconsecrated 
ground. Our modern delusion has yet to increase in a 
wonderful degree, to rival its ancient prototype. 

The Crusades furnish us with a striking example of the 
rapid spread of opinions having no foundation in I'eason. 
Under the exhortations of Peter the Hermit and Walter 
the Penniless, in the eleventh century, thousands of men 
paved the road through Hungary to the East with a long 
and ghastly line of whitened bones. Two hundred and 
seventy-five thousand men, relying upon Divine Provi- 
dence for material support, and preceded by a goat and a 
goose, into which the Holy Ghost was asserted to have 
fentered, set out on the mad expedition of capturing Jeru- 
salem from the hands of the infidels. Under the assurance 
of divine protection, the desire to rescue the tomb of the 
Saviour became epidemic, and spread to every nook 
of Christendom. Though the first crusade cost the lives 
of more than half a million men, a triumph was appar- 
ently won in the temporary occupation of the Holy City, 
where ensued a scene of horror and butchery only possible 
when men are controlled by delusions of the imagination, 
and consequently deaf to the voice of reason or the sup- 
plications of innocent women and children. A second and 
third crusade followed before this mania became extinct, 
showing to what length the mind of man will lead him 
when " obsessed" by delusion. In those days a read}'' ear 
was lent to " accredited manifestations" which abounded 
on every hand, — "manifestations" of so marvelous a kind 
(as may be read at length, duly attested, in the lives of 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 141 

the Saints) as to make our itinerant miracle-mongers 
appear insignificant and puerile. 

Ttie witchcraft delusion, as we have seen, furnished 
" manifestations" attested by all the weight human testi- 
mony can give. Though denounced by the Pope as 
impious, the reality of the phenomena was unquestioned, 
and consequently the number of cases increased. A bull 
of Pope Innocent YIIL, a.d. 1484, says, "It has come 
to our ears that numbers of both sexes do not avoid to 
have intercourse with the infernal fiends, and that by 
their sorceries they afflict both man and beast. They 
blight the marriage-bed; destroy the births of women 
and the increase of cattle ; they blast the corn on the 
ground, the grapes in the vineyard, the fruits of the trees, 
and the grass and the herbs of the field." 

This belief existed even in the most masculine minds. 
Sturdy Martin Luther was not free from this delusion, 
and often had long conferences or wearisome wrestlings 
with the arch-fiend in the solitude of his chamber. So 
convinced was Luther of the reality of these scenes that 
we find him confessing to as intimate a knowledge of 
the inhabitants of the infernal world as Mr. Davis or 
Judge Edmonds has of the sublimated spherical farmers. 
"The devil," says Luther, "knows well enough how to 
construct his arguments, and to urge them with the skill 
of a master. He delivers himself with a grave and yet 
with a shrill voice. Nor does he use circumlocution and 
beat about the bush, but excels in forcible statements and 
quick rejoinders. I no longer wonder that the persons 
whom he assails in this way are occasionally found dead 
in their beds. He is able to compress and throttle, and 
more than once he has so assaulted me and driven my 
soul into a corner that I felt as if the next moment it 
would leave my body. I am of opinion that Gesner and 



142 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

(Ecolampadius came in that manner to their deaths. The 
devil's manner of opening a debate is pleasant enough, 
but he soon urges things so peremptorily that the re- 
spondent in a short time knows not how to acquit him- 
self." 

Though possessing such intimate knowledge of the 
habits and manners of the denizens of the other world, 
his resemblance to our modern believers exists in no other 
particular. Luther was a man of faith ; a man who 
clearly perceived a noble aim in life, and steadfastly 
struggled towards it. Whatever ran contrary to this, 
whether of this world or of other worlds, was to be 
manfully met, fought against, subdued. The aim was 
ever kept in view, and when duty called he was always 
ready to respond : " Were there as many devils in 
Worms as there are roof-tiles, I would on." With eyes 
that beheld God's hand in all things, with a soul filled 
with deep convictions animating his being to manly 
doing, what to him was the tempter's art? No thought 
of "investigating seances" darkened his mental vision or 
distracted his fixed gaze from the purpose of life ; the war- 
fare of life, to his mind, permitted no dalliance with the 
embodiment of " undeveloped good," but called for strenu- 
ous exertions to guard well his own feet in the road before 
him, a road rendered luminous by his great and noble soul. 
A man that could stand in the presence of princes and 
emperors and proclaim those ever-memorable words, — " It 
is neither safe nor prudent to do aught against conscience. 
Here stand I, I cannot otherwise. God help me. Amen !" 
— is not even to be compared with men of our day who try 
to subdue the spirital embodiments of "undeveloped 
good" with soft words and harmonizing influences. None 
of those of the harmonizing sort can join in this grand 
old hymn left us by Luther: 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 143 

"And were this world all devils o'er, 

And watching to devour us, 
We lay it not to heart so sore. 

Not they can overpower us. 
And let the Prince of 111 
Look grim as e'er he will, 
He harms us not a whit: 
For why ? His doom is writ." 

Luther, if now living, would find no arch-fiend to 
battle, and I fear but little controversy would arise with 
the spirital successors of his majesty, if he waited for one 
to appear that " excelled in forcible statements and quick 
rejoinders." 

Numerous cases might be referred to in this connection, 
illustrating the contagious effects of strong convictions 
when reason is overthrown and delusion sits enthroned 
in the mind. Every student in history can recall exam- 
ples, such as the rapid spread of belief in vampirism in 
Southern Europe during the Middle Ages, the preva- 
lence of flagellation in Italy, and the strange delusion 
of lycanthropy, or wolf-metamorphosis, iu the mountain 
regions of Austria and Italy. The rise of the sect of 
Jumpers, in Germany, presents analogous traits to the 
rise of other sects once flourishing in England and 
America. Pages might be filled with recitals of deluded 
enthusiasts participating in the most singular acts, such 
as running on all-fours, climbing trees, or falling into 
trances, arising from mental sympathy with those who 
first exhibited such actions. In another chapter some of 
these phenomena will be again referred to. 

Who now believes that St. Jerome or St. Anthony 
was visited by lascivious spirital maidens? Who be- 
lieves that Agues Sampson, with two hundred other 
Scotch witches, sailed in sieves from Luth to North Ber- 
wick Church to hold a banquet with the devil ? Though 



144 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Bo]emnly asserted in her voluntary confession, yet who 
lends an ear to the tale told by Isobel Gowdin of visiting 
the queen of fairy-land in the bowels of the earth, or 
believes that she was metamorphosed into the form of a 
hare ? Who credits the story that the Hebi'ew physician of 
Charles the Bold devoured at one meal, in the presence 
of the court, a wagon-load of bay, together with its 
horses and driver ? These delusions, though once wide- 
spread and fully "accredited," have passed away; yet 
thousands to-day give full credence to the report of a 
visit of a learned American judge to a spirital home, 
where he socially chatted while the spirital housewife 
was busily engaged in churning. 

Dr. Draper (" Intellectual Development of Europe," 
p. 412), in commenting upon the witchcraft epidemic, 
has the following pertinent remarks: 

" All the delusions which occupied the minds of our fore- 
fathers, and from which not even the powerful and learned 
were free, have totally passed away. The moonlight has 
now no fairies ; the solitude no genius ; the darkness no 
ghost, no goblin. There is no necromancer who can raise 
the dead from their graves — no one who has sold his soul 
to the devil and signed the contract with his blood — no 
angry apparition to rebuke the crone who has disquieted 
him. Divination, agromancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, 
chiromancy, augury, interpreting of dreams, oracles, sor- 
cery, astrology, have all gone. It is three hundred and fifty 
years since the last sepulchral lamp was found, and that 
was near Rome. There are no gorgons, hydras, chimaeras ; 
no familiars ; no incubus or succubus. Tlie housewives of 
Holland no longer bring forth sooterkins by sitting over 
lighted chauffers. No longer do captains buy of Lapland 
witches favorable winds; no longer do our churches 
resound with prayers against the baleful influences of 



TFIE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 145 

comets, though there still linger in some of our noble old 
rituals forms of supplication for dry weather and rain, 
useless but not unpleasiug reminiscences of the past. 
The apothecary no longer says prayers over the mortar 
in which he is pounding, to impart a divine afflatus to his 
drugs. Who is there now that pays fees to a relic or 
goes to a saint-shrine to be cured ? These delusions 
have vanished with the night to which they appertained, 
yet they were the delusions of fifteen hundred years. In 
their support might be produced a greater mass of human 
testimony than probably could be brought to bear on any 
other matter of belief in the entire history of man ; and 
yet, in the nineteenth century, we have come to the con- 
clusion that the whole, from the beginning to the end, 
was a deception ! Let him, therefore, who is disposed to 
balance the testimony of past ages against the dictates 
of his own reason ponder on this strange history; let 
him who relies on the authority of human evidence in 
the guidance of his opinions now settle with himself 
what this evidence is worth." 

It mmII not do, however, to congratulate ourselves that 
all delusions have vanished ; for ever and again they re- 
appear in new forms. Though captains do not buy favor- 
able winds of Lapland witches, merchants and bankers 
are found who do buy of mediums information in regard 
to speculations in funds ! Though the apothecary has 
ceased praying over his mortar, yet spirital " physicians" 
advertise powders to which have been "imparted a di- 
vine afflatus"! True, no Devils' Sabbath now exists 
where witches dine with infernal fiends; but "spirit- 
circles" have taken their place, and mediums and spirits 
eat ajyples in Illinois and potatoes in Loudon ! The forms 
only have changed ; the delusions still linger in the 
minds of men but hanpily less dangerous, if not less 
a 13 



146 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ridiculous. Our forms of thought have changed, and 
consequently our mental epidemics are tinged with a 
different tint. As in these ancient cases, so in the 
modern, it is equally true, as Professor Haven (" Mental 
Philosophy," p. 368) has remarked of the operations of 
mind in somnambulism, that "the thought or feeling 
that happens to be dominant gives rise to, and entirely 
shapes, the actions" which constitute their characteristics. 

Commerce with deities was a common practice in all 
the ancient polytheistic systems ; oracles abounded on 
every hand, and the communicants purported to be gods. 
In the Middle Ages fairies and elves were seen and 
conversed with, their court visited, and the manners and 
habits of the citizens carefully noted ; an abundant mass of 
"evidence of the senses" could be adduced to support the 
belief in the veritable existence of these pigmy people 
and their controlling influence in human affairs. In the 
later days of witchcraft delusion the " obsessed" were 
often quieted by holy water, and frequently on hearing 
the name of Christ the "influences" rent the air with 
their shrieks and admitted they were devils. In more 
modern times the same results are seen, but now the 
devils claim to be departed fellow-mortals. 

In each case we but see reflected the prevailing super- 
stitious belief of the populace; the mind being "ob- 
sessed" with the dominant thought unconsciously shaping 
the action and determining its characteristics. When 
deities were thought to be continually around us, the 
"obsessed" claimed to be controlled by gods; when 
fairies and elves were believed to abound in every shady 
forest, these controlling visitants asserted themselves to 
be such : under a more vivid conception of the literal 
horrors of hell they were thought to be devils, and such 
they impiously proclaimed themselves ; while in a some- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 147 

what more enlightened age, where rationalistic influences 
have had greater scope, they again reappear under the 
forms of disembodied mortals, and claim to be Tom, Dick, 
and Joe. Yet circles have been held and astounding 
manifestations obtained where all present disbelieved in 
their spirital origin, and, behold! the "spirits" coincide 
entirely with the views of those invoking them. Chris- 
tian spiritalists meet with Christian "spirits" who de- 
light in prayer and biblical exposition and add in no small 
degree to their convictions ; while the less devout find 
all " spirits" decidedly heterodox in their theology 



148 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



CHAPTER IV. 

UNCONSCIOUS ACTION OP THE BRAIN, 

1. Unconscious cerebration. 

Dr. Carpenter, the distinguished English physiologist, 
whose labors have accomplished so much towards raising 
the study of mind from the speculations of metaphysi- 
cians to the rank of a new science, — mental physiology, 
— has seriously disturbed the admirers of spirital science 
by the announcement of his theory of " unconscious 
cerebration." Common sense Dr. Carpenter defines as 
the general resultant of the whole previous action of the 
mind. This resultant, be holds, is at all times available 
to the mind, whether we are conscious of the fact or not. 

We often receive some important proposition, and de- 
cide to wait before forming a definite conclusion on the 
subject. We consider the subject well, weigh the ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of the proposed scheme, and 
still hesitate. If we lay it aside for a few weeks and 
then reconsider it, we find that in the mean time the 
mind has referred the matter to our common sense, and 
gravitates to one side or the other. We then see the 
whole subject in a clearer light, and more readily arrive 
at a sensible conclusion. This unconscious operation of 
the brain in balancing for itself all these considerations, 
in putting all in order, so to speak, towards working out 
a correct judgment, is what Dr. Carpenter terms " un- 
conscious cerebration." 

We see illustrations of this in every day's experience. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 149 

The " sober second thought" is the result of such an un- 
conscious operation. In conversation we frequently for- 
get some name or date, and, after vainly endeavoring to 
recall it, we frequently exclaim, "Well, never mind; I 
shall think of it presently," and continue the conversa- 
tion. Often the forgotten word or fact suddenly presents 
itself to our consciousness without previous warning, 
and we avail ourselves of it without pausing to thank 
the silent messenger that had hunted it up from the 
storehouse of memory at our bidding. In cases of what 
are familiarly termed "absence of mind" we may see 
illustrations of the same fact. In walking, a man may 
become absorbed in deep thought, and take no note of 
his whereabouts; but the mind is not "absent" in the 
sense the term implies, for it guides him with accuracy 
through the jostling crowd of which his conscious self 
has taken no notice. He has turned the usual corners, 
avoided the carriages in crossing the crowded thorough- 
fares, and arrives with safety at the end of his journey. 
Dr. Carpenter has given numerous illustrations of un- 
conscious cerebration, two of which are worthy of quo- 
tation, as they place the subject in so clear a light : 

" The manager of a bank in a certain large town in 
Yorkshire could not find a key which gave access to all 
the safes and desks in the bank. This key was a dupli- 
cate key, and ought to have been found in a place acces- 
sible only to himself and to the assistant manager. The 
assistant manager was absent on a holiday in Wales, and 
the manager's first impression was that the key had 
probably been taken away by the assistant in mistake. 
He wrote to him, and learned to his own great surprise 
and distress that he had not got the key, and knew 
nothing of it. Of course, the idea that the key which 
gave access to every valuable in the bank was in the 
13* 



150 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

hands of any wrong person was distressing. He made 
search everywhere, thought of every place in which the 
key might possibly be, and could not find it. The as- 
sistant manager was recalled, both he and every person 
in the bank was questioned, but no one could give any 
idea of where the key could be. Of course, though no 
robbery had taken place up to this point, there was the 
apprehension that a robbery might be committed after 
the storm, so to speak, had blown over, when a better 
opportunity would be afforded by the absence of the 
same degree of watchfulness. A first-class detective 
was then brought down from London, and this man had 
every opportunity given him of making inquiries. Every 
person in the bank was brought up before him ; he ap- 
plied all those means of investigation which a very able 
man of this class knows how to employ, and at last he 
came to the manager and said, ' I am perfectly satisfied 
that no one in this bank knows anything about this lost 
key. You may rest assured that you have put it some- 
where yourself, and you have been worrying yourself so 
much about it tiiat you have forgotten where you put it 
away. As long as you worry yourself in this manner 
you will not remember it; but go to bed to-night with 
the assurance that it will be all right, get a good night's 
sleep, and in the morning I think it is very likely you 
will remember where you have put the key.' This turned 
out exactly as it was predicted. The key was found 
the next morning in some extraordinarily secure place, 
which the manager had not previously thought of, but in 
which he then felt sure he must have put it himself." 

In this case even the most persistent believer in 
the marvelous would hardly have the impertinence to 
suggest a super-mundane cause to account for the find- 
ing of the key. Following the advice of the detective, 



THE Sr I RITUAL DELUSION. 151 

the banker dismissed all anxiety from his mind, and 
became, in our modern jargon, in a " state of passive 
receptivity." In this condition his own mental faculties 
sufficed to restore the forgotten fact to his consciousness. 
If in his slumber that night some " guardian spirit," or 
the form of some deceased friend, had appeared before 
him in his dreams and told him where the key had 
been secreted, ignorance of the laws of mental physiology 
might have claimed the vision as an " accredited mani- 
festation." But the same explanation would have 
sufficed even in that case. In dreams we have illustra- 
tions of unconscious brain-work ; flights of fancy, or the 
w^eaving of events into some marvelous story, go on 
during sleep in the brain of even the dullest mortal, who 
is never conscious of fancy or imaginative powers in his 
waking moments. Addison says, in his Spectator, 
" There is not a more painful act of the mind than that 
of invention. Yet in dreams it works with that care 
and activity that we are not sensible when the faculty is 
employed." 

Many dreams are related by the superstitious, wherein 
missing wills or deeds have been found through the inter- 
position of some friendly apparition which thus appeared 
in the hours of sleep and " impressed" the required fact 
on the mind. In such eases we may safely assume that 
"unconscious cerebration" is the friendly sprite that ran- 
sacks the galleries of memory and sets before us the 
forgotten fact in some fanciful frame of its own manu- 
facture. 

Tliese remarks will aid us in better understanding the 
other illustration yet to be cited from Dr. Carpenter, 
who gives as his authority a well-known clergyman, the 
Rev. John De Liefde. A student had been attending a 
class in mathematics, and the professor had said to his 



152 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION'. 

class, " 'A question of great difficuhy has been referred 
to me by a banker, — a very complicated question of ac- 
counts, which they themselves have not been able to 
bring to a satisfactory issue, and they have asked my 
assistance. I have been trying, and I cannot resolve it. 
1 have covered whole sheets of paper with calculations, 
and have not been able to make it out. Will you try V 
He gave it as a sort of problem to his class, and said he 
would be extremely obliged to any who would bring him 
the solution by a certain day. This gentleman tried it 
over and over again. He covered many slates with 
figures, but could not succeed in resolving it. He was a 
little put on his mettle, and very much desired to attain 
the solution ; but he went to bed, on the night before the 
solution, if attained, was to be given in, without having 
succeeded. In the morning, when he went to his desk, 
he found the whole problem worked out in his own hand. 
He was perfectly satisfied that it Avas his own hand ; and 
this was a very curious part of it, — that the result was 
obtained by a process very much shorter than any he had 
tried. He had covered three or four sheets of paper in 
his attempts, and this was all worked out on one page, 
and correctly worked, as the result proved. He inquired 
of the woman who attended to his rooms, and she said 
she was certain no one had entered his room during the 
night. It was perfectly clear that this had been worked 
out by himself." 

During the day his anxiety to accomplish the result 
prevented the unconscious action of the brain, which 
accomplished the task so readily after he had desisted ; 
and, while his mind is supposed to be dormant, the diffi- 
cult task is, correctly accomplished. In many of the 
instances cited in the last two chapters we find this view 
alone to be the key which can open the door and shed light 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. I53 

on their seeming mysteries. Tlie case alluded to in a pre- 
vious chapter, of a girl rising in the night and passing hours 
at her easel, engaged in painting, and with such superior 
skill, is a striking illustration of unconscious brain-action. 
Nearly every reader can recall some instances where per- 
sons have shown the power of waking at any given hour 
in the night, while others are able at any moment, waking 
from a sound sleep, to tell the hour with almost unfailing 
accuracy. 

The following incident, known to the writer, will also 
furnish us with" another illustration of this curious power. 

Mrs. D , a lady residing in an Eastern city, was one 

evening sitting quietly in her chamber, reading. Her 
husband was absent, and she was alone in the house, but 
had no thought of fear. Suddenly, springing from her 
chair, and dropping her book, she ran to the door and 
hastily turned the key in the lock, though why she did 
so she was unable to say. Almost immediately she saw 
the knob noiselessly turn and the door tried ; and to her 
inquiry, " Who's there ?" a strange voice replied with 
some inquiries. She resolutely refused all appeals to 
open the door, and the man was forced to retire. Look- 
ing from her window, she saw three men, all strangers, 
leave the house. There was a considerable sum of money 
in the room, and she has no doubt their intention was 
robbery. In this case "unconscious cerebration" at once 
gives us the clue to the solution of the enigma. Sitting 
quietly, with her attention absorbed in her book, the 
stealthy steps of the intruders were heard, and yet not 
sufficiently to impress her conscious self with the fact, — as 
we often hear the clock strike, though the mind is too 
absorbed to permit of the impression being transmitted to 
our conscious thoughts. The impression transmitted to 
her brain gave rise to the unconscious start and lockins: 



154 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

of the door, to guard against some unrealized yet im- 
pending danger, in precisely the same manner as the 
student was moved to rise in his sleep and work out the 
problem. 

I use the term unconscious in its popular sense, as 
absent from our present state of consciousness. Strictly 
speaking, it may well be questioned whether the mind is 
ever unconscious ; but a treatise on mental philosophy is 
not the task I have here assigned to myself, and the use 
of terms in the above sense is sufficiently explicit for the 
purpose in view. During abstraction or slumber, the 
senses being closed to the objective world, no sensations 
are received and transmitted to the cerebrum, and its 
activity at these times must be carried on independently 
of the sensorium. In dreams, and in partial intoxication 
from spirits or narcotics, the cerebrum unconsciously 
works from the stock stored up by memory within its 
own domain. Dr. Carpenter having first introduced the 
term " unconscious cerebration" to elucidate these unno- 
ticed workings of the mind, and more prominently than 
others having associated his name with this theory, I shall 
again quote from him, that his views may be clearly stated. 

In his lecture before the Royal Institution, March 1, 
1868, he defines the relations between the cerebrum and 
the sensorium as made known by scientific research. 
The cerebrum, according to him, is " a superadded organ, 
the development of which seems to bear a pretty con- 
stant relation to the degree in which intelligence super- 
sedes instinct as a spring of action. The ganglionic 
matter which is spread out upon the surface of the hemi- 
spheres, and in which their potentiality resides, is con- 
nected with the sensory tract at their base (which is the 
real centre of conveyance for the sensory nerves of the 
whole body) by commissural fibres, long since termed by 



rilE SPIRITUAL delusion: 155 

Reid, with sag-acious foresight, ' nerves of the internal 
senses,' and its anatomical relation to the sensorium is 
thus precisely the same as that of the retina, which is a 
ganglionic expansion connected with the sensorium by 
the. optic nerve. Hence it may be fairly surmised, — ■ 
1. That as we only become conscious of visual impres- 
sions on the retina when their influence has been trans- 
mitted to the central sensorium, so we only become 
conscious of ideational changes in the cerebral hemi- 
spheres when their influence has been transmitted to the 
same centre. 2. That as visual changes may take place 
in the retina of which we are unconscious, either through 
temporary inactivity of the sensorium (as in sleep), or 
through the entire occupation of the attention in some 
other direction, so may ideational changes take place in 
the cerebrum, of which we may be unconscious for want 
of receptivity on the part of the sensorium, but of which 
the results may present themselves to the consciousness 
as ideas elaborated by an automatic process of which we 
have no cognizance." 

In his " Human Physiology" (p. 588) he dwells at 
some length on this subject: " Most persons who attend 
to their own mental operations are aware that when 
they have been occupied for some time about a particular 
subject, and have then transferred their attention to some 
other, the first, when they return to the consideration of 
it, aiay be found to present an aspect very different from 
that which it possessed before it was put aside ; not- 
withstanding that the mind has since been so completely 
engrossed with the second subject as not to have been 
consciously directed towards the first in the interval. 
Xow, a part of this change may depend upon the altered 
condition of the mind itself, such as we experience when 
we take up a subject in the morning with all the vigor 



156 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

which we derive from the refreshment of sleep, and find 
no difficulty in overcoming difficulties and in disentan- 
gling perplexities which checked our further progress the 
night before, when we were too weary to give more than 
a languid attention to the points to be made out, and 
could use no exertion in the search for their solutions. 
But this by no means accounts for the entirely new de- 
velojoment which the subject is frequently found to have 
undergone when we return to it after a considerable 
interval ; a development which cannot be reasonably ex- 
plained in any other mode than by attributing it to the 
intermediate activity of the cerebrum, which has in this 
instance automatically evolved the result without any 
consciousness. Strange as this phenomenon may at first 
sight appear, it is found, when carefully considered, to 
be in complete harmony with all that has been already 
affirmed respecting the relation of the cerebrum to the 
sensorium, and the independent action of the former; 
and, looking at all these automatic operations by which 
results are evolved without any intentional direction of 
the mind to them, in the light of reflex actions of the 
cerebrum, there is no more difficulty in comprehending 
that such reflex actions may proceed without our knowl- 
edge, so as to evolve intellectual products when their 
results are transmitted to the sensorium and are thus 
impressed on our consciousness, than there is in under- 
standing that impressions may excite muscular move- 
ments through the ' reflex' power of the spinal cord, 
without the necessary intervention of sensation. In both 
cases, the condition of this mode of independent operation 
is that the receptivity of the sensorium shall be suspended 
quoad the changes in question, either by its own func- 
tional inactivity, or through its temporary engrossment 
by other processes." 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. \q1 

For the facts and reasons set forth above, we are justified 
in ascribing to the unconscious brain the following powers : 

I. It can control the various organs of the body, en- 
abling us to read, write, draw, play on instruments, or 
discourse, frequently in a manner not justified by our 
normal acquirements ; 

II. It can rausack the storehouse of memory and bring 
to our conscious self words or facts sought for in vain in 
our conscious moments ; 

III. It can weave common impressions into terrible 
romances or beautiful pictures, and can perform the ex- 
ceedingly difficult task of mental arrangement and logical 
division of subjects; 

IV. It can tell the hour in the night without a timepiece. 

2. All impressions permanent. 
Before we apply these mental powers to the phe- 
nomena presented by trance test-mediums, it will be 
necessary for us first to examine another point in mental 
physiology, in order that our means may be more ample 
in atteujpting to resolve so difficult a problem. A few 
words must be said on the subject of memory and its 
retentive hold of every impression transmitted over the 
nerves of sensation. Reteutiveness is not a quality of 
memory, thereby implying its existence in a greater or 
less degree, but reteutiveness is itself memory. The 
power to recall a past impression to consciousness may 
be wanting, but it by no means follows that the desired 
fact is lost to memory. Our control over past impres- 
sions is not a direct one : if we desire to recall a certain 
date, for instance, it is because it is not present in con- 
sciousness ; if it were, there would be nothing to recall. 
Finding ourselves unable to recall the desired impression, 
we resort to comparisons, or associations, or some other 

14 



158 TTIE SPIRITUAL DELVSTOX. 

suggestive process by which the desired fact may be 
brought into consciousness. Our inability by no means 
proves that the impression is lost beyond recovery, or 
obliterated, but that our control over it is lost. The im- 
pression remains, and at some future time may present 
itself to consciousness either with or without a mental 
effort on our pai't. 

Many cases are on record showing the power of the 
mind, in many cases, of recalling impressions at will. 
" Cyrus, it is said, knew the name of every officer — Pliny 
has it, of every soldier — that served under him. Themisto- 
cles could call by name each one of the twenty thousand 
citizens of Athens. Hortensius could sit all day at an 
auction, a,nd at evening give an account from memory of 
everything sold, the purchaser and the price. Muretus saw 
at Padua a young Corsican, says Mr. Stewart, who could 
repeat thirty-six thousand names in the order in which he 
heard them, and then reverse the order and proceed back- 
ward to the first. Dr. Wallis, of Oxford, on one occasion, at 
night, in bed, proposed to himself a number of fiftj-three 
places, and found its square root to twenty-seven places, 
and, without writing down numbers at all, dictated the 
result from memory twenty days afterwards. It was not 
unusual with him to perform arithmetical operations in 
the dark, as the extraction of roots, e.g., to forty decimal 
places. The distinguished Euler, blind from early life, 
had always in his memory a table of the first six powers 
of all numbers from one to one hundred. On one occa- 
sion two of his pupils, calculating a converging series, on 
reaching the seventeenth term, found their results difier- 
ing by one unit at the fiftieth figure, and, in order to de- 
cide which was correct, Euler went over the whole in his 
head, and his decision was found afterwards to be cor- 
rect. Pascal forgot nothing of what he had read, or 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 159 

heard, or seen. Menage, at seventy-seven, commemo- 
rates, in Latin verses, the favor of the g-ods in restoring 
to him, after partial eclipse, the full powers of memory 
which had adorned his earlier life."* 

Dr. Kitto says, " I retain a clear impression or image 
of everything at which I ever looked, although the color- 
ing of that impression is necessarily vivid in proportion 
to the degree of interest with which the object was re- 
garded. I find this faculty of much use and solace to 
me. By its aid I can live again at will in the midst of any 
scene or circumstance by which I have been once sur- 
rounded. By a voluntary act of mind I can in a moment 
conjure up the whole of any one out of the innumerable 
scenes in which the slightest interest has at any time 
been felt by me."f 

These are instances of extraordinary memory ; yet the 
marvel exists only in the power to recall so easily what 
the mind has once entertained. The same great library 
exists in each one of us, but we are not all privileged to 
command its contents at will. But will is not the only 
cause which brings up before us the events of which we 
have been once cognizant. Impressions made on the 
mind in childhood, and, as we say, forgotten in after- 
life, — impressions of which we remain ignorant even when 

we are told of the circumstances by others, may be 

brought on the ever-shifting stage of consciousness by 
some event where the will is not employed. All know 
that persons resuscitated from drowning sometimes assert 
that in the short space of time in which they are in the 
water, every act of their lives seems to be simultaneously 
restored to consciousness. Miss Cobbe gives the fol- 



* Haven : "Mental Philosophy," p. 127. 
t Moore: 'Bodj and Mind," p. 20C. 



160 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

lowing instance of unconscious memory in one of her 
thoughtful essays: "Under some special excitement, 
and perhaps inexplicably remote association ot ideas, 
some words which once made a violent impression on us 
ai'e remembered from the inner depths. Chance may 
make these either awfully solemn, or as ludicrous as that 
of a gentleman shipwrecked off South America, who, as 
he was sinking and almost drowning, distinctly heard 
his mother's voice say, ' Tom ! did you take Jane's cake?' 
The portentous inquiry had been addressed to him forty 
years previously, and (as might have been expected) had 
been wholly forgotten." 

Disease often brings trooping before the consciousness 
long- forgotten events: sometimes we repeat in fever 
long trains of phrases which we have once heard, and 
which may not have made a vivid impression at the 
moment. Instances are on record where persons have 
repeated either living or dead languages which they had 
once heard, but of the meaning of which they were en- 
tirely ignorant. The case of a Grerman servant-girl, cited 
by Coleridge, is frequently narrated. This girl, while at 
her work in a room adjoining her master's study, had 
heard him reading aloud from the Hebrew Bible, and in 
the delirium of fever in after-years, in other surroundings, 
she astonished those around her by repeating these He- 
brew sentences that had once been uttered in her hearing. 
The expression " going in one ear and out the other" is 
true only of our present state of consciousness : the mind 
itself is more than any state of consciousness, it embraces 
them all. 

Dr. Abercrombie relates the following instances: "A 
lady, in the last stage of a chronic disease, was carried 
from London to a house in the country ; there her infant 
daughter was taken to visit her, and, after a short inter- 



I 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 161 

view, was carried back to town. The lady died a few 
days after, and the daughter grew up without any recol- 
lection of her mother, till she was of mature age. At 
this time she happened to be taken into the room in 
which her mother died, without knowing it to have been 
so ; she started on entering it, and, when a friend who 
was along with her asked the cause of her agitation, 
replied, 'I have a distinct impression of having been in 
this room before, and that a lady, who lay in that corner 
and seemed very ill, leaned over me and wept.' 

" A boy, at the age of four, received a fracture of the 
skull, for which he underwent the operation of trepan. 
He was at the time in a state of perfect stupor, and, 
after his recovery, retained no recollection of the opera- 
tion. At the age of fifteen, during the delirium of a 
fever, he gave his mother a correct description of the 
operation and the persons who were present at it, with 
their dress and other minute particulars. He had never 
been observed to allude to it before, and no means were 
known by which he could have acquired the circumstances 
which he mentioned." 

Similar instances could be quoted, but I restrict myself 
to one or two more illustrating the same fact under other 
circumstances. Miss Martineau gives an instance of a 
congenital idiot who had lost his mother before he had 
reached two years of age, and of course before he was 
able to retain any consciousness of her person. Yet at 
the age of thirty, when dying, he "suddenly turned his 
head, looked bright and sensible, and exclaimed, in a tone 
never heard from him before, ' Oh, my mother ! how 
beautiful !' and sunk round again — dead." 

Dendy, in his " Philosophy of Mystery," gives a curious 
instance of memory occurring in the state of somnambul- 
ism. " We have heard of one more interesting case, in 

li* 



162 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

which the somnambule, remembering that he had made 
errors in his writing, traced, on a blank paper substituted 
for that written on, the corrections in the very places cor- 
resjDonding to the er?^oneous writing. And that here was 
memory was proven in this, that during the time his 
eyes were shut, the pen was dropped on the very spot 
where the inkstand stood ; but, this being removed, no 
ink was obtained, and the writing was blank." 

A number of anecdotes might be quoted of persons in 
abnormal sleep repeating violin-, guitar-, or piano-playing 
which they had heard in former years. This is still more 
wonderful ; for not only are the sounds remembered, but 
the capacity to reproduce them on the instrument is also 
developed. A case of this nature a few years since went 
the rounds of the press as a marvelous phenomenon. It 
was stated that a child from the mission-school in New 
York had been adopted by a gentleman and his wife in 
the West. The child was a delicate girl, and they soon 
grew very much attached to her. One night, after hav- 
ing retired, they were very much surprised to hear on 
the piano in their parlor one of the most difficult pieces 
of a distinguished German composer. Their first im- 
pression was that visitors had called, intending a " sur- 
prise;" but on dressing and descending to the parlor, 
their astonishment was augmented at seeing this little 
girl seated at the piano. After playing a few choice 
selections, she arose, gracefully bowed, and withdrew. 
Nearly every night this scene was repeated, and soon 
grew into an expected occurrence. The girl was entirely 
ignorant of her part in the transaction, and was not 
aware that she had left her bed. After a few nights' 
silence, she turned to her admiring auditors when she 
had finished, and, gravely speaking, asserted that she 
was the mother of the child whose form she was usin"-. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. ■ 163 

and took that method of developing her daughter into a 
musician. The poor child grew more and more delicate, 
and soon died. 

On the spirital hypothesis we must admit that her 
declining health made her susceptible to her mother's in- 
fluence; but this would be admitting disease as a condition 
or aid to me'diumship. Again we fail to see how a pro- 
cess which was plainly destroying the health of the child 
could be instrumental in developing her into a musician, 
she ia the mean while remaining in entire ignorance of 
the existence of such a process. Inquiries were made 
after her death, and it was ascertained that she was the 
daughter of a widow, a very accomplished music-teacher, 
who had died in great privation and left the daughter at 
the age of five years to the charity of strangers. 

Mental pathology alone furnishes us with the clue to 
this enigma. We may be warranted in asserting that 
every piece played by the child had been played in her 
hearing by her mother in her childhood, and probably 
listened to by her with wonder and delight. In her dis- 
eased condition we find but another instance of uncon- 
scious memory, so often reappearing as we draw near to 
the portals of death. In her orphaned condition and deli- 
cate health, what more natural than that the comforts of 
a home should lead her thoughts to dwell on her mother, 
and fondly try to recall some faint recollection of her form 
and features, leading her perhaps to believe that her mother 
was watching over and guiding her steps ? This morbid 
thought, perhaps assisted by some association of ideas 
connecting her mother with the playing, became dominant 
in her abnormal state at the piano ; and on the ejacula- 
tions of a dreaming child in a walking sleep, we are called 
upon to accept as " positive evidence" the fact of her 
mother's presence in iji^opria persona. 



164 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Not to multiply illustrations of similar cases, we may 
now augment our conclusions in regard to the uncon- 
scious brain with these additional powers : 

V. It can remember impressions made upon the senses 
at almost any period of life in our conscious moments ; 

yi. It can, under certain conditions, reproduce impres- 
sions made on the senses during infancy, or while in an 
unconscious state ; 

YII. It can manifest all the powers of the conscious 
brain, as in the state of double consciousness, leaving 
us in doubt as to which is the conscious and which the 
unconscious condition ; 

YIII. It can " manifest" mental powers far superior to 
those of its normal condition, and claim a distinct indi- 
viduality for itself. 

3. Mental telegraphing and prevision. 

We are told, however, that mediums give us " tests 
of spirit-presence" inexplicable upon any theory of un- 
conscious cerebration. A stranger visiting the city is 
t)ften urged to call upon a medium, and, doing so, is sur- 
prised to hear of events known only to himself, the names 
of friends no longer living, with their age and the date of 
their demise. Struck with astonishment by these mar- 
velous facts, he eagerly listens to the dull commonplaces 
purporting to be communications from the denizens of the 
heavenly world. Assured, as we have been by our phi- 
losophers, that all our fundamental ideas ai'e derived from 
impressions transmitted by the senses alone, he may well 
be startled on hearing such revelations from the lips of 
an entire stranger, and the general result of such previous 
teaching is that thousands are led to believe that invisi- 
ble beings must be assumed to account for these phenom- 
ena, and then collect records of the phenomena to use as 



TUB SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 165 

evidence of the trutb of tbe assumption. Once firmly 
convinced, they are prepared to join the spirital ranks, 
and, " arguing in a circle," smile derisively at " mole-eyed 
science." There must be a "spirit-world," or these sin- 
gular phenomena would be left in the awkward predica- 
ment of not being understood ; it is tbe only hypothesis 
which accounts for the facts. Then, in the next breath, 
they know there is a " spirit-world," because they have 
communicated with persons now dwelling there. 

The question forced upon us is, How can the medium 
obtain this accurate knowledge without the aid of invisi- 
ble "intelligences" ? In accordance with the plan pursued 
heretofore in these pages, permit me to cite a few "mar- 
velous facts," " accredited manifestations" in mental 
philosophy, to serve as a groundwork upon which any 
explanation whatever must be based. It is not necessary 
that we should be able to " explain" all the marvelous 
phenomena of mind; it will suffice to show that mental 
philosophy presents as " marvelous phenomena" as the 
circle-room of any medium ; and if these cannot be "ex- 
plained" by the spirital theory of invisible agencies, but 
pertain to the mind itself, their consideration is essential 
before asserting that " spirit-presence" is a necessarrj 
assumption. 

In the first place, I desire to give instances illustrative 
of the fact that ideas are communicated from mind to 
mind without the conscious use of the physical organs of 
sight, hearing, or speech. This communication of thought 
may take place by direct effort of the will, or it may be 
by unconscious action. The phenomena of mesmerism, 
of which some illustrations have been given, furnish 
us with many instances of the transmission of thought 
produced by the will of the operator. Prof. W. D. Gun- 
ning, in his admirable essay, " Is it the Despair of Sci- 



166 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ence?" relates a case which substantiates this position. 
He says an eminent physician of Philadelphia went one 
day to hear an "inspirational" trance-medium, and told 
him the following facts. " The medium was a frail, sen- 
sitive woman, and one of the most successful speakers of 
her class. The doctor went to tr}^ an experiment. He 
wrote out a very short lecture, memorized it, and tore up 
the manuscript. When he entered the hall, the audience 
had assembled, and the medium sat on the platform. He 
fixed his eye on her, and, by a strong effort of will, 
caused her to rise and walk forward to the desk. Then 
he thought over his lecture, keeping his will on her, and 
she delivered it, word for word, as the words rose up in 
his mind. The woman intended no deception. She knew 
that she was not speaking her own thoughts, and, very 
naturally, she referred the control to a spirit." 

Dr. Brittan, an able and eloquent exponent of the 
" spiritual philosophy of the nineteenth century," in 
his work on " Man and his Relations," devotes an 
entire chapter to " Mental Telegraphing," and relates 
many instances, coming under his own immediate obser- 
vation, where persons once having been under magnetic 
control were subsequently influenced by him at a distance 
of miles. All familiar with what is called magnetic 
influence must have observed similar instances not unfre- 
quently. Probably no " science" has been based so much 
on delusion as the so-called " science of mesmerism ;" 
yet, notwithstanding the absurdity of its claims, its phe- 
nomena have shown that thought may be transmitted 
without the use of the usual modes afforded by the senses. 

Again, thought may be communicated from mind to 
mind without any conscious effort on the part of either 
person. I am acquainted with a lady who for a long 
time was frequently " impressed" with the thoughts of 



TUE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 167 

others before they were spoken, frequently answering 
persons before the question had been orally expressed, 
though the question related to matters which rendered 
any guess-work or " association of ideas" utterly im- 
possible. On one occasion a young lady entered the 
room where she was sitting, about ten o'clock in the 
evening, and, before the former had closed the door, she 
was greatly surprised to hear her exclaim, in a jocular 
manner, " You cannot have any of my quince-sauce !" The 
young lady admitted that this was what she had come 
for. On no previous occasion had she expressed any de- 
sire for the article in question, which had been prepared 
a number of months before, and she came at that time, as 
she expressed it, from "a sudden whim." Scores of simi- 
lar instances which have occurred in my presence might 
be given. The well-known spiritist, "Rev." Chauncey 
Barnes, whose zeal has never outstripped his credulity, 
regards himself as " highly mediumistic," because he can 
inform you what article of furniture, book, or other object 
you have touched, or mentally selected, while he was out 
of the room. These "tests" are gravely paraded in the 
various towns and cities of the Union — for ^chere has be 
not been? — before awe-struck investigators as wonderful 
evidences of mediumistic powers ! I knew a worthy 
gentleman, now deceased, who was peculiarly suscep- 
tible to mental impressions, frequently foretelling the 
arrival of guests, however unexpected their coming had 
been ; and on more than one occasion he was conveniently 
absent when a "dun" was meditating a descent on the 
house. 

Presentiments furnish us with other illustrations of 
this singular faculty of the mind. A case frequently 
cited is that of Governor Marcy's daughter, who had 
a fearful presentiment on the morning of her father's 



168 TFIE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

death, and felt confident that some terrible calamity 
brooded over her. A telegram soon confirmed her fore- 
boding. Another instance, to be found in several text- 
books on mental philosophy, is that of the sister of 
Major Andre, who, it is said, dreamed of her absent 
brother, one night, as arrested and on trial before a 
court-martial. " The appearance of the officers, their 
dress, etc., was distinctly impressed on her mind ; the 
room, the relative position of the prisoner and his judges, 
were noticed ; the general nature of the trial, and its 
result, the condemnation of her brother. She woke 
deeply impressed. Her fears were shortly afterwards 
confirmed by the sad intelligence of her brother's arrest, 
trial, and execution, and, what is remarkable, the facts 
corresponded to her dream, both as respects the time of 
occurrence, the place, the appearance of the room, posi- 
tion and dress of the judges, etc. Washington and 
Knox were particularly designated, though she had 
never seen them." 

However it may be with the above dream, there are 
others quite as remarkable which are fully "attested." 
Dr. Moore, in his work on " Body and Mind," narrates 
the following as having occurred under his own obser- 
vation. A friend of his dreamed that he was amusing 
himself, as he was in the habit of doing, by reading the 
inscriptions on the grave-stones in a country church- 
yard. While thus engaged, he saw with great surprise 
the name, and date of death, of an intimate friend with 
whom he had that very evening been engaged in con- 
versation. Nothing more was thought of the dream till 
some months afterwards he received intelligence of his 
friend's death, which, singularly enough, corresponded 
in date with that dreamed of as being inscribed on the 
tombstone. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 169 

An instance occurred in my presence some years since 
which may be put on record as an " accredited manifes- 
tation," as the persons concerned are still living and dis- 
tinctly remember the circumstance. In the month of No- 
vember, 1 859, 1 was escorting a lady home from an evening 
entertainment, and in passing the windows of her house, 
before reaching the door, she declared she saw a body 
laid out on the sofa, covered with a sheet. On entering 
the house, we learned that a gentleman temporarily stop- 
ping there had that evening received a telegram inform- 
ing him of the death of his only son, who had left the 
city a week previous in good health. No person was in 
the room except the lady's mother, and the death was 
entirely unexpected, as no intelligence of his sickness had 
been received. 

The father of the Rev. C. W. Gushing, formerly presi- 
dent of a collegiate institute in Yermont, was for many 
years a sexton, and not unfrequently told his family he 
should not go to his usual labor, for he would be called 
upon to prepare a grave : this would prove true, though 
he had no information of the sickness of the person de- 
ceased. Another gentleman living in Vermont assures 
me that upon entering a room where persons are en- 
gaged in conversation, he frequently "gets the thread of 
their remarks" though not a word has reached his ear. 

Can we suppose that a " spirit" whispered to my lady 
friend that her visitor wished quince-sauce? that the 
" Rev." Chauncey Barnes is attended by a " spirit-band" 
to astonish rustics? that "invisibles" tell us of the ap- 
proach of duns, or that a grave must be dug? that they 
hover around us in dreams to foretell future events or 
far-distant occurrences? that they delight in " impressing" 
our minds with the misfortunes of acquaintances or the 
conversation of gossips ? How did Andrew Jackson 
H 15 



170 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Davis obtain the thoughts expressed in "Nature's 
Divine Revelation," certainly a most marvelous pro- 
duction coming from the mind of an illiterate youth ? He 
denies having been "a mere spout," as he tersely expresses 
it, but declares he received these " revelations" in the 
state of mental exaltation, his mind en rapport w^ith the 
"entire universe." 

" The history of the human mind," says Renan, " is full 
of strange synchronisms, by which far-distant fragments 
of the human race attain at the same time, without inter- 
communication, to ideas and imaginations almost iden- 
tical. The commerce of ideas in the human race does 
not work by looks nor by direct teaching only. Jesus did 
not even know the name of Buddha, Zoroaster, or Plato, 
had read no Greek book, no Buddhist soutra ; and yet 
there is in him more than one element which, without 
his knowledge, came from Buddhism, from Parseeism, or 
from the wisdom of the Greeks. All this is done through 
secret channels, and by that species of sympathy which 
exists between different divisions of humanity." 

Some twelve years since, I occupied my leisure mo- 
ments during- several months with experiments in what 
is popularly termed clairvoyance. I found that by hold- 
ing a lock of hair in my hand I could invariably induce 
the physical sensations in my own body of the person to 
whom the hair belonged, even when no one present knew 
at the time whether my description was correct or not. 
I frequently described features, personal appearance, 
and characteristics from the hair, but soon dismissed the 
subject as profitless, while " patients" had tongues of 
their own. True, I made many mistakes, but became 
convinced that this power did pertain to the mind. If 
the person to whom the hair belonged was dead, I saw 
the person in my mental vision only as he or she appeared 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 171 

when the hair was cut, and the fact of a subsequent death 
did not appear. Once when a dear friend was sinl^ing 
into a rapid decline, I mentally obtained a botanic pre- 
scription. Of some of the ingredients, with the medical 
properties of which I was familiar, I gave the names ; 
the rest I seemed to see in mental vision, as I can now 
call up before me the house where I was born, but their 
names I onlj ascertained by describing them as thus seen. 
I have no doubt whatever that the prescription saved her 
life : she rallied immediately, and soon regained her accus- 
tomed health. How this was done I cannot tell ; it was 
not the result of will, nor were my senses closed to 
external things. My mental faculties were concentrated 
on that one point, and the "prescription" was the result. 
Instances of the results of concentration of thought are 
frequent in all works treating on the philosophy of mind : 
it was this that enabled Mozart to compose a sonata at 
the age of four, and Louisa Tinning, the " Infant Sappho," 
to compose and sing an exquisite melody at the age of 
two years and eight months. " These mental concentra- 
tions can," says Dendy, " by some enthusiasts, be pro- 
duced at pleasure ; the paroxysm of the improvisatore, 
for instance. But it is an effort which, like the dark hour 
of the Caledonian seer, is not endured with impunity : it 
points, indeed, to limits beyond which mind should not 
be strained." 

On another occasion I described a funeral which had 
taken place years before in the room where I was then 
Bitting. I gave an accurate description of the grouping 
of the guests, the location of the remains, the position of 
the officiating clergyman, and various other particulars. 
I have thus described, in the presence of their friends, 
persons long dead, and who were utterly unknown to me,' 
and have always retained a vivid recollection of their per- 



1Y2 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

sonal appearance. Sympathetic impression, generally 
loosely termed clairvoyance, is an admitted fact, and 
rests on a scientifically defined basis ; but to those 
unacquainted with its limitations, which are many, 
these cases of mental impressions seem marvelous, 
and the credulous are easily induced to believe what- 
ever else may be declared by the " seer." Even now, 
when in the presence of a sick friend, I frequently 
feel the symptoms in my own body, sometimes causing 
severe pain. One of the last locks of hair held by 
me in my amateur experiments was that of a person 
very sick with the smallpox ; in my endeavors to de- 
scribe the sj^mptoms of the disease — to me unknown at 
the time — I became a subject of sympathetic contagion, 
but very fortunately had only a light attack of varioloid. 
I have seen a woman so sensitive that when holding a 
lock of hair taken from the head of a person subject to 
epileptic fits, she would fall on the floor herself, and the 
hair would have to be wrenched from her hand. Whether 
the lock "of hair" is any aid or not, I do not know; it 
maybe like the metal disk which once was thought essen- 
tial in " mesmerism." 

A case of sympathetic contagion was published in the 
Boston papers, under date of Sept. 21, 18*12, as a tele- 
graphic dispatch. It was as follows : 

" New York. — Two brothers, Henry and Peter Bars- 
man, aged thirty-two and thirty-five, died of congestive 
chills, near Factoryville, Staten Island, this morning, 
within half an hour of each other. They were taken ill 
the same evening, had the same symptoms beforehand 
and suffered the same pangs at the same time. Their 
physician regards this as a case of sympathetic contagion, 
which is so very rare in pathology that its existence as a 
phenomenon of disease has often been denied." 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. l^Z 

Any extended application of the principles laid down 
in this chapter to the phenomena offered by mediumship 
will not be necessary, as the application is too self-evident 
to require an argument. In many of the so-called " tests," 
we will find them easily falling into line with the phenom- 
ena afforded by the manifestation of mind, and evidently 
the result of the same causes. A story frequently cited, 
and recently retold by Dr. Carpenter, is that of an admirer 
of the poet Young, consulting his "spirit" at a "test- 
circle." While sitting at the table, the " intelligence" 
present announced himself by raps to be Edward Young. 
The following conversation ensued: 

" Are you Young, the poet ?" 

"Yes." 

"The author of the 'Night Thoughts'?" 

"Yes." 

"If you are, repeat a line of his poetry." 

In response the table spelled out, by the usual alpha- 
betical formula, these words : 

"IMan is not formed to question, but adore." 

" Is this in the ' Night Thoughts' ?" inquired the gen- 
tleman. 

"No." 

" Where is it ?" 

"Job." 

This reply was very unsatisfactory to him, and he went 
home to ponder on it. He bought a copy of Young's 
poems, and found therein a poetical commentary on the 
book of Job which ended with that line. Greatly sur- 
prised, he hardly knew what to think. Apparently the 
poet had given him a line with which he was not familiar 
to make the " test" more convincing-. A few weeks after- 
wards he found a volume of Young's Poems in his own 
libiary, ami, on turning to the poem in question, found it 

15* 



n4 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

with marginal marks of his own, and was thus convinced 
that he had read the poem before. Dr. Carpenter, in 
retelling this anecdote, adds these words : " I have no 
doubt whatever that that line had remained in his mind, 
that is, in the lower stratum of it; that it had been 
entirely forgotten by him, as even the possession of 
Young's Poems had been forgotten, but that it had been 
treasured up as it were in some dark corner of his memory, 
and had come up in this manner, expressing itself in the 
action of the table, just as it might come up in a dream.'''' 

We all know that long-forgotten events frequently 
appear in our dreams ; faces, or facts, or scenes, thus 
often appear on the stage of consciousness in such mo- 
ments, and no superstitious wonder is felt, and yet it is 
really as marvelous as the phenomena exhibited as 
" spiritual." Dr. Carpenter, in the above-quoted sentence, 
has expressed no " theory" of his own, but the well-settled 
conviction of all physiologists. 

Dr. Draper says, "In the brain of man, impressions 
of whatever he has seen or heard, of whatever has been 
made manifest to him by his other senses, nay, even the 
vestiges of his former thoughts, are stored up. These 
traces are most vivid at first, but by degrees they decline 
in force, though they probably never comjjletely die out. 
During our waking hours, while we are perpetually re- 
ceiving new impressions from things that surround us, 
such vestiges are overpowered and cannot attract the 
attention of the mind. But in the period of sleep, when 
external influences cease, they present themselves to our 
regard, and the mind, submitting to the delusion, groups 
them into the fantastic forms of dreams. By the use of 
opium and other drugs which can blunt our sensibility to 
passing events, these phantasms may be made to emerge." 

While sitting in a "circle," we are always requested 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 175 

to remain perfectly passive, neither seeking to exercise 
the will-power against " manifestations," nor too anxious 
to have some particular " spirit" report, or, as the father 
of the Davenport Brothers beautifully expresses it, " try 
to keep perfectly harmonic." Mediums tell us that a 
strong desire existing in the mind to hear from some 
particular one often seriously interferes with the " con- 
trol," but that if we will remain passive the " spirits" will 
endeavor to satisfy us in their own way. In the anec- 
dote given above, the announcement made, that Edward 
Young was present, unconsciously awoke a train of ideas 
in the mind of the questioner eventuating in the quota- 
tion of the line spelled out. 

We know that the action of light will impress an image 
on the surface of iooi-ganic objects. A familiar experi- 
ment is to lay a key, or some other object, on a sheet of 
white paper, and expose it for a few minutes to the action 
of sunlight, and then lay the paper away where it will not 
be disturbed. After several months, if the paper be carried 
into a dark place and laid on a piece of hot metal, the 
spectre of the key will appear. Dr. Draper says of these 
experiments, " In the cases of bodies more highly phos- 
phorescent than paper, the spectres of different objects 
which may ha<^e been in succession laid originally upon 
it will, on warming, emerge in their proper order. Indeed, 
I believe that a shadow never falls upon a wall without 
leaving there a permanent trace, — a trace which might be 
made visible by resorting to proper processes. All kinds 
of photographic drawing are in their degree examples of 
the kind Of the moral consequences of such facts it is 
not mj'- object here to speak. But if on such inorganic 
substances impressions may in this way be preserved, 
how much more likely is it that the same thing occurs iu 
the purposely-constituted ganglion!" 



1V6 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

If the physical forces can thus leave permanent impres- 
sions, we may well ask whether the still higher forms of 
force cannot also impress other than the " purposely- 
constituted ganglion" of the person in whose organization 
they first occur. Is it unreasonable to conclude that 
thought is communicated from one brain to another 
without connecting nerves ? We know that physical 
symptoms in one may be sympathetically experienced by 
another. Shall we assume that a " spirit" is necessary 
to account for it? Mental sympathy is fully as well 
established a fact as any in nature ; yet we are called 
upon to believe that it is inexplicable by physiological 
laws ; and this request, so modest in its nature, comes 
from those who are the least versed in these laws. 

All force is transmitted by wave-motion. Minute 
vibrations, communicated by various bodies to the sur- 
rounding medium, impinging upon the retinae of the 
eyes, give rise to the sensation of sight, and the dimen- 
sions of these "light-waves" determine their color; 
waves of less intensity give rise to the sensation of 
heat. In the numerous cases cited above, something must 
have passed from the brain of one person to that of 
another. The term mental impressioyi only describes the 
effect. An explanation of the method by which the com- 
munication of thought was made necessitates the existence 
of waves of brain-force passing from one brain to another. 
Prof Gunning, in the essay already referred to, makes 
use of the following language : " When Dr. Bell began 
the investigation of spiritualism, he was surprised to find 
the mediums echoing back his own thoughts. He sup- 
posed that these persons had the power, in some myste- 
rious way, of looking into our minds and seeing what is 
passing there. He was perplexed and baffled, and stopped 
the investigation, denying the intervention of spirits, but 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. ^^ 

not claiming to have explained the phenomenon. Others 
have had the same experience. I have had it myself. 
Since I have begun to investigate these things, I have 
often found my own thoughts coming back to me from 
the entranced sensitive; but I soon discovered that this 
occurred only when I was fixing my mind more or less 
intently on the sensitive, and unconsciously mesmerizing 
her or him. I have no doubt that a great part of that 
which comes to us from these persons, even when they 
are honest and do not mean to deceive, is only the reflec- 
tion of what is passing in the minds of good, fleshly, solid 
men and women who are present at the sittings. But 
I question very seriously the position of Dr. Bell, that 
everything which comes from the entranced sensitive is 
taken from the mind of some living person." 

True, if we will use the word mind in its narrow and 
restricted sense. But I trust suSicient facts have been 
adduced to convince us that we should expect to meet the 
reflections of thoughts not present in the conscious mind, 
and phenomena of this class constitute the keystone to 
the arch with which modern delusion has attempted to 
span the "great gulf" Loosen this, and the whole fabric 
falls into the bottomless abyss of nothingness. 

Before concluding this chapter it is desirable to say a 
few words on the mysterious power of prevision often 
manifested by the mind. A few cases have already been 
incidentally given ; but others will more clearly establish 
the fact. 

Dr. Forbes Winslow, in his work on "Obscure Diseases 
of the Brain and Mind," thus alludes to this singular fact 
in mental pathology : "Persons who have been attacked 
by epilepsy, paralysis, and apoplexy have had for some 
period previous to their seizures distinct recollection of 
dreaming of these affections : in fact, thej seem to have 

H* 



1Y8 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

a clear presentiment of their particular disease, as well 
as a prophetic inspiration of their mode of death." 

In a note, Dr. Win slow quotes from a French work a 
number of instances which are explicable on the old 
theory of physiological writers, that the physical symp- 
toms are unconsciously perceived by the mind before the 
conscious self has noted them. The note, presented 
herewith, is a quotation from the " Anatomie com- 
paree du Systeme nerveux," etc., by Drs. Leuret and 
Gratiolet. 

" In certain respects dreams ought to be attentively 
studied ; natural instinct can in certain cases, while 
inciting the imagination to certain ideas, induce useful 
dreams, containing salutary warnings. Aspasia thus 
learnt the simple remedy which restored her to health ; 
and it was likewise in a dream that the physician Aben- 
zoar had the revelation of a medicine by the aid of which 
he freed himself from severe ophthalmia. If one, in 
fact, notices the extreme facility with which the ideas, 
free from the chain of exterior impressions, associate 
themselves during sleep, one can conceive how, in the 
midst of a thousand strange combinations, luminous per- 
ceptions sometimes arise. One can explain in the same 
way the marvelous perspicacity of certain dreamers, who, 
under one form or other, seem to foresee diseases of 
which the germ until then had been latent. Arnauld de 
Yilleneuve dreamt one night that a black cat bit him on 
the side. The next day an anthrax appeared on the part 
bitten. A patient of Galen's dreamt that one of his limbs 
was changed into stone. Some days after, this leg was 
paralyzed. Such also was the case of the woman of 
whom Gunther has spoken : she dreamt that she was 
being beaten by a whip. In the morning she bore lesions 
like scars. Roger d'Oxteyn, knight of the Company of 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 179 

Douglass, went to sleep in good health. Towards the 
middle of the night he saw in his dream a man infected 
with the plague, quite naked, who attacked him with 
fuiy, threw him on the ground after a desperate struggle, 
and, holding him between his open thighs, vomited the 
plague into his mouth. Tliree days after, he was seized 
with the plague and died." 

Let us now turn to another case, narrated by a most 
competent authority, along with a number of remarkable 
dreams well worth consulting. I quote from Abercrom- 
bie's "Intellectual Powers:" "A clergyman had come 
to this city (Edinburgh) from a short distance in the 
country, and was sleeping at an inn, when he dreamed 
of seeing a fire, and one of his children in the midst of 
it. He awoke with the impression, and instantly left 
town on his return home. When he arrived within sight 
of his house, he found it on fire, and got there in time 
to assist in saving oue of his children, who, in the alarm 
and confusion, had been left in a situation of danger." 
A somewhat similar instance occurred recently in the 
State of Maine. An employe on a railroad in that State, 
one night, while asleep in another town from that in 
which his family resided, dreamed that the lives of the 
members of his family were in some impending dano-er. 
Waking with this impression on his mind, he hurriedly 
dressed himself, and was fortunate enough to catch a 
train about leaving. On his arrival home, he found the 
family asleep, and nearly suffocated with the gas which 
liad escaped from the stove. 

In the cases quoted by Dr. Winslow, physiology sup- 
plies us with a clue to their solution. Yet to the ignorant 
or unreflecting mind they are just as good " tests" of 
imaginary " influences" as any presented in the columns 
of the spirital press ; and these additional instances, eveu 



180 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

if not resolvable by the same method, give us no reason 
to believe that a disembodied mind muat be assumed 
for the occasion, with an assumed power to " impress" 
knowledge through that most doubtful of all avenues to 
knowledge, a dream ! 

The fact that human lives were in danger, and other- 
wise might have been sacrified, has nothing to do with 
the argument. If presentiments are whispered revela- 
tions, they must include the trivial as well as the impor- 
tant. Science can draw no distinction between impres- 
sions that lives are in danger, and those announcing the 
approach of a "dun" or casual callers. The lady to 
whom I have before referred as having frequently received 
mental impressions, when quite a child, exclaimed one 
night after ten o'clock, "Mother, Uncle George is com- 
ing!" referring to an uncle of hers who lived a dozen or 
more miles away in the country, where no railroad com- 
munication existed. Laughing at the girl, her mother 
bade her go to sleep. In the coui'^e of an hour, " Uncle 
George" drove up to the house and went in. His visits 
there were very infrequent, often a year or more inter- 
vening. Although no lives or property were at stake in 
this exercise of prevision by the mind of that little girl, it 
must take its place with the " accredited manifestations." 
Generous as the spiritigts are with their bestowal of 
powers to the "invisibles," but few would ascribe this 
incident to a ghostly gossip. 

When we take into consideration the fact that of the 
tens of thousands of impressions registered in the brain 
but few are present in consciousness ; the fact that the 
rest exist undestroyed, and may be at any moment re- 
stored to consciousness ; and the fact that thought, under 
certain conditions, may be communicated from one mind 
to another by pure volition, we may safely lay down 



TEE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 181 

these additional conclusions as pertaining to the uncon- 
scious brain : 

IX. It can transmit thought to sensitive minds without 
the exercise of volition ; 

X. It can thus transmit thought not present in con- 
sciousness ; 

XI. It can obtain ideas, by some as yet inexplicable 
method, when no person is present, or which were never 
known to those who are present ; 

XII. It can " manifest" a faculty of prevision, which, 
often dormant, is capable of being called into action. 



16 



182 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 



CHAPTER V. 

"what phenomena occur?" 
1. Liability to self-delusion. 

Physical manifestations are supposed by the spiritist 
to differ from the class ah'eady reviewed, in that they not 
only involve no action of the medium'' s mental faculties, 
but are confined to phenomena which may be subdivided 
into two classes: those in which the arras or limbs are 
automatically moved, and those in which physical objects 
are moved by unseen agencies ; the medium constituting 
a reserve fund of force from which the " spirits" draw to 
affect grosser material. Thus, when profane hands place 
printer's ink on the instruments used by the " spirit- 
band" attending Mrs. Andrews, of Moravia notoriety, 
and the marks of the ink are subsequently found on her 
hands, or on her lips, if the trumpet was so anointed, 
the spirital " law of transference" is announced, and 
regarded as a complete reply to the suspicions held by 
the " unharmonic" skeptics. 

In cases of " obsession," trance, etc., the more intel- 
ligent spiritist acknowledges some undefinable relation 
as existing between the mental endowments of the me- 
dium and the intellectual characteristics of the commu- 
nication or address. In what are termed physical mani- 
festations, however, no such connection is assumed. The 
writing medium, for instance, is controlled in the arm 
alone, we are told, and not through the brain, if the 
writing be produced without the attention of the writer 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 183 

being directed to it. The movement of heavy bodies, the 
tiltings of tables and pianos, the elongation and diminu- 
tion of the body, apparitions of the dead, and writing by 
unseen hands, are classed as facts, to be daily seen and 
subject to investigation, facts in which any conscious or 
unconscious action of the brain cannot be referred to for 
an explanation. Notwithstanding the explicitness of this 
claim, a more critical investigation than that generally 
undertaken in " harmonic circles" will tend to dissipate 
a large share of it, and classify much of the phenomena 
in question under the head of mental delusions. I have 
already referred at some length to the proper estimate to 
be placed on the evidence furnished by the senses when 
adduced in support of what is considered supernatural, 
or out of the ordinary course of experience, but desire to 
call attention again to some of the numerous ways in 
which we may be deceived even in phenomena supposed 
to be independent of the mind. 

An experiment once in vogue, before the advent of the 
modern mode of explaining all acts singular and un- 
accountable, was to place a glass goblet on a table, and 
with a metallic button suspended from a string held just 
within it, the button would commence to oscillate and 
would strike the sides of the glass the number of times 
the holder of the string may have requested. Investi- 
gation soon convinced the skeptical that this result 
did follow, even when the request was merely a mental 
one. With the elbow firmly placed on the table, and 
the string held between the thumb and fore-finger, is 
made the request, and lo ! the desired number is soon 
struck, and the button slowly regains its former mo- 
tionless position. What more convincing test could be 
conceived? Beyond this there lay the possibility of 
obtaining letters, words, sentences, spelled out by means 



184 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

of the alphabet, if they had been attempted. The " in- 
vestigator" felt assured that he or she had not moved a 
muscle of the arm, stood ready, if necessary, to make 
solemn attestation to it, and yet the strange result was 
again and again attained. Investigation of a different 
sort, proceeding from those whose minds were not of the 
" passive receptivity" school, soon discovered that while 
the eyes were closed or diverted the expected result did 
not follow. Faith was also noticed to have a marvelous 
effect in accelerating the motion of the mystic button ; 
and when it was discovered that under the control of 
confident anticipation the arm had unconsciously swayed 
the cord till the desired number had been struck, the illu- 
sion was dispelled. The charm being broken, the button 
thenceforth stubbornly refused to move ; for, the secret 
once known, the scarce perceptible action of the muscles 
was noticed and corrected. 

So also it may happen in a large number of cases of 
table-tipping and kindred "manifestations." I say a large 
number of cases, for I cannot agree with Dr. Carpenter 
that all cases of table-tipping can be refei'red to this 
source. I believe there are "physical manifestations," 
neither the result of deception, conscious or unconscious, 
on the one hand, nor the product of imagination on the 
other. Their nature, and the supposed evidence of the 
presence of disembodied beings based on their occurrence, 
will be fully considered in a subsequent section. 

Dr. Faraday, whose name is always mentioned with 
grateful reverence (except by the spiritist who has far 
" progressed" above the low aims of " mole-eyed science" 
and who- obtains his scientific acquirements from the 
spheres), investigated the phenomenon of table-tipping, 
and, not having his mind in a condition of "passive 
receptivity," arrived at some conclusions on the subject. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 185 

He designed a simple instrument to serve as an index to 
the unconscious pressure exerted by those having their 
iiands on the table. He constructed two boards, with 
small rollers placed between them. This was to be 
placed on the table, and upon it the fingers were to rest 
In this manner the slightest pressure of the hand could 
be at once noticed by the sliding of the board, and atten- 
tion being thus called to the pressure, it would be at once 
corrected. The lack of reverence displayed in the con- 
struction of this simple indicator evidently highly dis- 
pleased the " invisibles," for thenceforth they refused to 
honor with their presence any circle using it. I have 
repeatedly sat at circles formed by friends around my own 
sober table, who desired, "just for fun," to see if they 
were mediumistic, and have seen the table rocking back 
and forth or revolving round, giving no little trouble to 
the operators to keep their fingers on its surface ; yet 
never, on any occasion, have I had the least reason to 
believe that any mental influence was involved outside 
of the merry group clustered around it, and often frantic- 
ally endeavoring to keep up with its increasing speed, 
until, worn out by exhaustion, they would remove their 
hands, and the table would again become the staid and 
useful piece of furniture its maker designed. When a 
group of persons sit around a table, their minds filled 
with the dominant idea that " spirits" are present, and 
are in a high state of expectancy to behold something 
marvelous, it would be a far greater wonder if their 
curiosity was not satisfied to some extent than anything 
that could be " manifested" to them. 

There are a large class of physical manifestations 
that are unworthy of serious attention. I allude to 
those produced by the itinerant jugglers who travel 
tlirough the country, attempting, by means of iron rings 

16* 



186 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

and tin horns, so-called demonstrations of spiritual ex- 
istence. Many of these so-called mediums, I am firmly 
convinced, are arrant cheats, having no faith in the 
" Gospel of the IsTew Dispensation," but anxious only for 
the "scrip" to be gathered from the pockets of the credu- 
lous. The well-known mediums for physical manifesta- 
tions, the Davenport Brothers, Laura Y. Ellis, the 
Eddys, Mr. Reed, and last, though by no means least, 
the redoubtable Fay, by confining their powers to " dark 
circles" or " cabinet seances" can furnish us with 
nothing that can meet the requirements of independent 
investigation, because the darkness in which their feats 
are performed renders any critical observation impos- 
sible. These feats, we should remember, have all been 
duplicated by others, who made no claim to ghostly aid. 
These 'mediums announce themselves to their audiences 
as about to present some marvelous phenomena, the 
cause of which they leave to each to ascertain or deter- 
mine as he may see fit. All of those whose names are 
mentioned above have passed through " exposures" again 
and again, as the skeptical assert, but the believers in 
their mediumistic powers continue to rely upon them as 
worthy of all credence. 

Our liability to self-delusion is strikingly illustrated 
in the matter of apparitions. Thousands of persons de- 
clare that they daily see the forms of the departed, and 
converse with them as unmistakably as they do with their 
friends "still in the form." Let us examine somewhat 
briefly the degree of importance possessed by these un- 
doubtedly honest declarations. In so doing, it will be 
well to refer to some instances not explicable upon 
the spirital hypothesis, and see if they do not pre- 
sent many characteristics in common with more recent 
narratives. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. \%\ 

Dr. Forl)es Winslow relates some singular instances. 
"A nobleman," be says, "for some weeks previously to 
an attack of apoplexy, was subject to a curious phantasm. 
He, on several occasions during the da}', when suffering 
from an acute headache, saw clearly a spectral image 
resembling himself. This form of hallucination is termed 
deuteroscopia. The phenomenon is considered of rare 
occurrence even among the insane. Aristotle refers to 
this type of illusion. It is explained more at length in 
his Metaphysics. A certain Antipheron, Aristotle says, 
when he was walking, saw a phantasmal reflection of 
himself advancing towards him. A traveler who had 
passed a long time without sleeping, perceived one night 
his own image which rode by his side. It imitated all 
his actions. The horseman having to cross a river, the 
phantom passed over it with him. Having arrived at a 
place where the mist was less thick, this curious appari- 
tion vanished. Goethe relates having had a similar hal- 
lucination." 

Such instances as these require no explanation to in- 
telligent readers. Yet similar instances are recorded in 
the spirital journals as evidences of man's immortality! 
In the nomenclature of spirital science they are termed 
"phenomena of the double," and are seriously asserted 
to be objective existences, thus demonstrating the exist- 
ence of a " spirit" in man by its manifestations out of the 
body, leaving its tenement to thrive as best it may in the 
mean while. This curious phenomenon is no longer " of 
rare occurrence," for there exists scarcely a medium but 
can relate instances when his soul has " gone out" of 
the body. How often mediuvis are deprived of an in- 
dwelling soul we cannot determine, but they seem to 
live as well without it as when it deigns to remain. It 
is undoubtedly very refreshing and consolatory to some 



188 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

persons to know that they have souls, even if their mani- 
festations are confined to appearances out of the body. 
So many are ready to vouch for the truth of the fact that 
their souls have "gone out," that we will cheerfully con- 
cede the point, and only require stronger evidence that 
they have ever returned. 

Yoices of the disembodied dead, many think, are heard 
the same as mortal voices ; the vibrations of the air 
enter the ears of all men alike, but only those having- a 
finer sense of hearing, the result of the development of 
the "interior" spirital sense of hearing, are aware of the 
fact. Dr. Winslow has some examples of this form of 
delusion so pertinent that I cannot refrain from again 
quoting from his excellent treatise: 

"A worthy clergyman now under my treatment is 
subject to the most singular aural illusions. Several 
years back he had a severe attack of carbuncle at the 
nape of the neck. After recovering from this affection, 
he began to hear voices audibly speak to him. They 
often addressed him in the Welsh language, occasionally 
using particular phrases, idioms, and endearing epithets 
that he had been in the habit of indulging m forty years 
previously, when paying court to his wife. On one oc- 
casion he was seated by my side Avhilst I was occupied in 
writing a prescription. Appearing somewhat abstracted, 
I asked ' whether he then heard the voices speaking to 
him.' ' Yes, quite distinctly.' I said, ' What are they 
saying?' He rejoined, 'I would rather not repeat the 
words, as they are not very complimentary to yourself.' 
After begging him to inform me what observations these 
unseen spirits hovering about us were making, he re- 
plied that they were ejaculating, ' Don't leave your living; 
don't go abroad ; remain in England ; don't do what he 
recommends; don't take the medicine he prescribes.' I 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 189 

had endeavored to impress upon this patient's mind the 
importance of his relieving himself for a time from all 
anxious and responsible clerical and parochial duty. I 
advised a continental tour, with the view of trying the 
effect of a thorough change of air and scene, having found, 
in cases similar to his, much benefit from this mode of 
treatment. Whatever I suggested for the re-establish- 
ment of this clergyman's health, these imaginary persons 
did their best, most uncourteously, to oppose." 

" Under the irresistible influence of an imaginary voice, 
many a person is driven to acts of violence and homicide. 
Occasionally the illusions of hearing are of a double 
character, that is, the patient is apparently subject to the 
influence of two distinct voices, a good and a bad voice, — 
one urging him to sacrifice life, the other a restraining 
voice, begging and imploring him not to yield to his 
dangerously insane impulses. 'My bad voices urge, my 
good voices restrain me,' was the remark of a patient 
who believed himself to be demoniacally possessed. *I 
should have destroyed myself long ago,' said an insane 
person to Dr. Morel, 'or I should have killed somebody 
else, if the voice of my good angel had not begged and 
encouraged me to suffer.' Patients often contend with 
these antagonistic illusions, or ' double voices,' as Morel 
designates them. In one ear the most frightfully obscene 
ideas are suggested, whilst in the opposite one senti- 
ments of the greatest purity will be whispered to the dis- 
ordered imagination of the sufferer. These antagonistic 
and opposing illusions lead to fearful contests, and pro- 
duce a sad amount of mental agony. ' Which voice ought 
I to obey?' said a delicate and sensitive-minded patient 
to me one day after a fit of hysterico-maniacal excitement. 
' I am urged by persons that address me on my right 
side to utter blasphemous and indecent expressions, and 



190 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

to commit acts the most repulsive and repugaant to my 
nature ; whilst in the opposite ear I clearly recognize 
the tender voice (conscience ?) beseeching me not to yield 
to the fearful temptations of Satan, but to battle with 
his vile and wicked suggestions.' 

"An insane pa,tient was urged by an imaginary voice 
to destroy himself. He was commanded to cut his throat. 
The words blood, blood, blood, were repealed with terri- 
ble emphasis and in rapid succession ; and on more than 
one occasion he was discovered with a razor, seriously 
contemplating self-destruction. This gentleman was sub- 
ject to the influence of the double voice ; for at times, 
when the word blood was ringing awfully in his ear, and 
an air-drawn dagger, stained with gore, glittered before 
his eyes, there stood, as he imagined, on the opposite 
side of his body a good spirit, whispering to him texts of 
Scripture, repeating verses of hymns applicable to his then 
state of mind, and imploring him, in most affectionate and 
touching language, not to eternally damn his soul by 
destroying his own life."* 

That these are the ravings of the insane should 
not be objected by the spiritist. True, the delusions 
were of a more "progressed state of development," 
but these aural delusions were no more acute or con- 
vincing than those heard by our " hearing mediums." 
We are not to forget, moreover, that the learned 
" spirit-band" presiding at the Free Circle Room of the 
Banner of Light declare that a great majority of the 
insane are really "under control," and they would 
render strait-jackets useless by the adoption of the more 
restorative process of magnetic passes ! Yoices must 
necessarily be associated with intelligent beings, for no 
one would conceive an articulate voice to proceed from 

* Dr. Forbes AVinslow : " Obscure Diseases of the Mind," pp. 155, 384. 



THE SPIRITUAL DEI US 10 JV. 191 

an inanimate object; but in tlie illusion of spectral appear- 
ance the phantom may be of any form in nature, and 
present all the distinguishing features of a living or of 
an inert body. 

Sir David Brewster, in his interesting " Letters on 
Natural Magic," cites twelve instances of spectral illu- 
sions experienced by a lady friend, — Mrs. A. On one 
occasion, while engaged at her toilet before the dressing- 
glass, " she was suddenly startled by seeing in the mirror 
the figure of a near relation. The apparition appeared 
over her left shoulder, and its eyes met hers in the glass. 
It was enveloped in grave-clothes, closely pinned, as is 
usual with corpses, round the head and under the chin ; 
and, though the eyes were open, the features were solid 
and rigid. The dress was evidently a shroud, as Mrs. 
A. remarked even the punctured pattern usually worked 
in a peculiar maimer round the edges of that garment. 
Mrs. A. described herself as at the time sensible of a 
feeling like what we conceive of fascination, compelling 
her for a time to gaze on this melancholy apparition, 
which was as dislinct and vimd as any reflected reality 
could be, the light of the candles upon the dressing-table 
appearing to shine fully upon its face." Truly a most 
" remarkable manifestation," were it not for the fact that 
the mortal form of her relative " was then in Scotland, 
and in perfect health." 

On other occasions she saw apparitions of persons 
who were living, clad either in the habiliments of the 
grave or in their usual costumes. One of the first in- 
stances of illusion in her experience was the form of her 
husband standing in the room with his back to the fire, 
though he had left the house half an hour previously for 
a walk. Sir David says, "The apparition was seen in 
broad daylight, and lasted four or five minutes. When 



192 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the figure stood close to her it concealed the real objects 
behind it, and the apparition was fullj as vivid as the 
reality." Deceased friends " appeared" to her in their 
former dress, and seated themselves in the room ; and on 
some occasions the ghostly form of a cat or dog would 
be seen in the room, or a spectral carriage-and-four 
would drive up the entrance-road. Fortunately Mrs. A. 
was a lady of intelligence, and lived before the " commu- 
nion of spirits " had been reduced to an exact science. 

Let us take her experience, and suppose it to occur 
in our own land, at the present time, to one not dis- 
inclined to believe in the spirital philosophy. We may 
safely venture to say that many of the apparitions 
would be of a different character. Back of the spectral 
illusions would be a mind prepared to believe in their 
objective reality. This conviction would become the dom- 
inant idea, and unconsciously shape the appearance of the 
spectral forms. Instead of cats and dogs, living persons, 
or inanimate objects, this controlling idea would cause 
all such phantoms to assume the form of departed beings. 
Mrs. A. was convinced of the illusory nature of these 
phantoms, and consequently any object might appear 
before her disordered sight as readily as impressions are 
brought before the consciousness in dreams; while in the 
mind of the spiritist the conviction that "the departed 
are ever witb us" would determine the character of the 
spectral forms. 

It is not necessary to rely upon supposition alone in sup- 
port of these statements. Some time since there appeared 
a communication in the American Spiritualist, in which 
the writer narrated a "manifestation" occurring through 
the well-known medium Charles Foster", who is said to 
be one of the best " piiysical mediums''^ m the ITnited 
States. A lady visitor received a communication from 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. I93 

the sublimated form of a brother of whom nothing had 
been heard for years. When last heard from, he was in 
the array during the rebellion, and his fate was unknown 
till he " appeared" to Mr. Foster and gave a circum- 
stantial account of his capture by the Confederate sol- 
diers, his imprisonment, and eventual death. That no- 
thing might be wanting to present a complete "test" to 
his sorrowing sister, he was "seen" by Mr. Foster in 
his army uniform. This revelation from " the unseen 
shore" brought relief to an an.^ious heart that gladly 
listened to the description of the ha[)piaess now enjoyed 
in the brighter world above. This sweet consolation, 
however, was destined to be removed, for suljsequently 
the young scapegrace returned from California I 

Once thoroughly convinced of the objective reality 
of these illusions, no limit is to be placed to the ex- 
tent to which the mind may be carried. It may pass 
through the stage of "development" requisite to fit its 
possessor for admission to Bedlam, or prepare him to 
accept any tale if asserted to be a " manifestation." 
Mundane science, through Sir David Brewster, says, 
" Although it is not probable that we shall ever be 
able to understand the actual manner in which a per- 
son of sound mind beholds spectral apparitions in the 
broad light of day, yet we may arrive at such a degree 
of knowledge on the suliject as to satisfy rational curi- 
osity and to strip the phenomena of every attribute 
of the marvelous. Even the vision of natural objects 
presents to us insurmountable difficulties, if we seek 
to understand the precise part which the mind under- 
takes in perceiving them; but the philosopher con- 
siders that he has given a satisfactory explanation of 
vision when he demonstrates that distinct pictures of 
external objects are painted on the retina, and that this 

I n 



194 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

membrane communicates with the brain by means of 
nerves of the same substance as itself, and of which it 
is merely an expansion. Here we reach the gulf which 
human intelligence cannot pass ; and if the presumptuous 
mind of man shall dare to extend its speculations further, 
it will do it only to evince its incapacity and mortify its 
pride." 

Spirital science, on the other hand, asserts that the 
gulf which yawns before the feet of the " mole-eyed" 
scientist has been bridged over by immortal intelligence, 
and, with the utmost contempt for a priori "philosophiz- 
ing," makes appeal to the " facts." One of these " facts" 
furnished by spirital science will fully illustrate the essen- 
tial difference in the methods employed by mundane and 
by spherical science. A few years since — in 1810, I 
think — an etherealized " spirit-boy" presented himself at 
the Banner of Light circle room, anxious to " commu- 
nicate." What a touching picture might be drawn of the 
anxiety of the little fellow to again approach mortal scenes, 
to convince his sorrowing parents that he was still living, 
tenderly cared for, in a brighter world ! But unfortunately 
for any pathetic scene that might be conjecturally as- 
sumed, the "boy" stoutly asserted that his sole object in 
controlling the medium was thereby to be endowed with 
the power to behold material things, as he ardently 
desired to visit East Boston that day to attend a circus ! 
He chuckled exceedingly over the idea of slipping within 
the canvas without a ticket. Spirital science regarded 
this as a great "test"! "So childlike," "so natural," 
Avere some of the opinions presenting themselves to the 
spirital mind. 

Sir Walter Scott, in concluding his " Letters on De- 
monology," used language that may well be quoted as 
strikingly applicable to our own time. He says, " Those 



TUE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 195 

who are disposed to look for them maj, without much 
trouble, see such mauifest signs, both of superstition and 
the disposition to believe in its doctrines, as may render 
it no useless occupation to compare the follies of our 
fathers with our own. The sailors have a proverb that 
every man in his life must eat a peck of impurity ; and it 
seems yet more clear that every generation of the human 
race must swallow a certain measure of nonsense." 

2. Tendency of scientific research. 

The present century has witnessed the grandest dis- 
covery made in physical science since the time of New- 
ton,— the discovery of the persistence and correlation 
of forces ; a discovery now generally conceded, and 
possessing the most far-reaching results. That heat is 
not a specific entity, but rather an affection of matter, was 
long ago seen. Even Bacon and Locke gave some inti- 
mations of this in their works; but modern research has 
indubitably established the fact that heat is a " mode of 
motion." As a stone dropped into a pool of water trans- 
mits its motion in the ripples seen radiating in all direc- 
tions on its surface, so a body dropping on a solid surface 
and brought to a state of rest transmits its motion to the 
particles of matter upon which it strikes. The molar 
motion expends itself by producing molecular motion ; 
the visible motion of the whole body cease.s, and the 
molecular motion, or motion of the particles, becomes 
manifest in the form of heat. All physical forces are 
thus shown to be convertible ; that is, the expenditure of 
one mode of force gives rise to the manifestation of 
another. Repeated experiments have shown that the 
forces known as heat, light, electricity, and magnetism 
ar(! mutually correlated, are in fact but different manifes- 
tations or modes of motion. 



196 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

As in sound we have vibrations of the atmosphere 
striking upon the tympanum of the ear and giving rise 
to the sensation of hearing, so in light we have vibrations 
of an all-pervading ether impinging upon the retina of 
the eye and causing the sensation known as sight. Nor 
has the discovery ended with the correlation of the phys- 
ical forces, for investigations conducted by Mayer, Car- 
penter, Le Conte, and others, demonstrated that the so- 
called vital forces were but modes of manifestation of the 
same force, or, as Dr. Carpenter has expressed it, " that 
so clear a mutual relationship exists between all the vital 
forces that they might be legitimately regarded as modes 
of one and the same force." 

Herbert Spencer asserts that all a priori possibilities 
and experimental evidence alike warrant us in the belief 
" that there cannot be an isolated force beginning and 
ending in nothing ; but that any force manifested implies 
an equal antecedent force from which it is derived and 
against which it is a reaction. Further, that the force so 
originating cannot disappear without result, but must 
expend itself in some other manifestation of force, which, 
in being produced, becomes its reaction, and so on con- 
tinually." — First Principles. In another work ("Prin- 
ciples of Biology," i. p. 51) he states, " It is a corollary 
from that primordial truth which, as we have seen, under- 
lies all other truths, that whatever amount of power an 
organism expends in any shape is the correlate and 
equivalent of a power that was taken into it from with- 
out. On the one hand it follows from the persistence of 
force that each portion of mechanical or other energy 
which an organism exefts implies the transformation of 
as much organic matter as contained this energy in a 
latent state. And on the other hand it follows from the 
persistence of force that no such transformation of organic 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 19t 

matter containing- this latent energy can take place 
without the energy being- in one shape or other mani- 
fested." 

GontractiUty is the essential attribute of the muscle, 
and is peculiarly a vital endowment, yet it can be 
excited, for a time, after death, when the " vital prin- 
ciple" is supposed to have left the body. During life this 
movement of the muscles is the result of a stimulus 
transmitted by the nerves. Mr. G. H. Lewes has shown, 
and subsequent research has abundantly verified it, that 
there is no real difference in property between the sensory 
and motor nerves. Dr. Bastian, in his recent work on 
"The Beginnings of Life," remarks, " Neurility is the 
characteristic property of a nerve, just as contractility is 
the characteristic pi'operty of a muscle; and the different 
results produced when a sensory and motor nerve re- 
spectively are stimulated are due to the different nature of 
the organs to which the stimulus is directed. When the 
stimulus traverses the nerve in an a/fe/'e;?^ direction, this, 
impinging upon a nerve-centre, liberates a larger or 
smaller quantity of energy, and may produce what is 
called a sensation ; but when, on the other hand, a stim- 
ulus originating in a nerve-centre is propagated in an 
efferent direction, then this stimulus calls into play the 
contractility of a muscle, and so gives rise to a motor 
act." 

I have recalled these established principles of scien- 
tific research to the reader's attention, because the whole 
theory of spirital physical manifestations is in direct con- 
flict with them. The spiritist still regards all the phe- 
nomena of life as the direct result of a mysterious entity, 
an " etherealized and sulilimated" being dwelling within 
the body during physical life and using the body as a 
machine for its own use ; while modern thought, form- 

17* 



198 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

ing its conclusions from the study of organic forms, I'e- 
gards life as an abstract term, signifying the properties 
exhibited by what are termed living bodies to distinguish 
them from those not manifesting these properties. Modern 
research endeavors to understand the relation existing 
between the manifestation of thought and the forces 
employed in keeping the thinking apparatus in perfect 
tune. The metaphysical idea of life being a specific entity 
was the direct cause of the ready belief accorded to the 
tales of earlier days of transformations of persons into 
animals, as narrated in witchcraft prosecutions. This 
philosophy may be found more fully elaborated in some 
of the tales in the Arabian Nights' Entertainment. 

While looking upon the phenomena of life as the pecu- 
liar field of physical research, modern thought is met by 
the bold assumption that its method of investigation will 
necessarily rob the soul of all hopes of the future, blot 
out the divine spark of immortal life, and leave us with 
only a visible horizon to bound our powers. This asser- 
tion has been so many times and so fully met by abler 
hands, that we need not be deterred in our purpose by 
having it again flaunted in our way. We know that we 
are physical beings ; we inhabit a physical world, and in 
structural form have many points of resemblance to in- 
ferior forms of life. Intelligence in man, as in many of 
these inferior forms, is manifested by much the same 
processes. The mechanism of thought is a legitimate 
study for science. Even if our conclusions should be an- 
tagonistic to many of our former metaphysical notions, 
it does not necessarily follow that they must be false. 
The bugbear of "atheistic materialism" need not frighten 
us, even if science should confirm the views of Dr. 
Bastian, that " cognition or intellectual action may 
take place under the form of a mere organic or iin- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 199 

conscious discrimination, without the interventioa of 
consciousness. Thus, in the individual, consciousness or 
feeling comes to be superadded as an additional accom- 
paniment to certain mere organic discriminations; so 
that consciousness, without which sensation cannot exist, 
is secondary, whilst cognition, in the form of unconscious 
discrimination, is primary. Out of this primary undiffer- 
entiated organic discrimination, such as alone pertains to 
the lowest forms of animal life, there has been gradually 
evolved that which we know as feeling and consciousness." 
Those who are still determined to discover evidence of 
spiritual realities in the domain of physical science may 
well be alarmed at the conflict physical science is bring- 
ing on. The two lines of thought, so far from being an- 
tagonistic, are in parallel directions, and neither approach 
nor recede from each other. Whatever may be the result 
of the inquiry into the genesis of mind will in no degree 
pronounce an ultimate decision on the question of its 
destiny. However intimate a relation may be shown to 
subsist between mental processes and the expenditure of 
force, we are still to bear in mind that " the intellectual 
product does not belong to the category of forces at all. 
It does not answer their definition as 'that which is ex- 
pended in producing or resisting motion.' It is not recon- 
vertible into other forms of force. One cannot lift a 
weight with a logical demonstration, nor make a tea-kettle 
boil by writing an ode to it. A given amount of molec- 
ular action in two brains represents a certain equivalent 
of food, but by no means an equivalent of intellectual 
product We must not forget that force- 
equivalent is one thing, and quality of force-product is 
quite a difierent thing. The same outlay of muscular 
exertion turns the winch of a coffee-mill and of a hand- 
organ. I am not sure that mental qualities are not as 



200 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 

susceptible of measurement as the aurora borealis or the 
changes of the weather. But even measurable quality 
has no more to do with the correlation of forces than the 
color of a horse with his power of draught ; and it is 
with quality we more especially deal in intellect and 
morals." * 

The spiritists are the most notable of modern opponents 
of scientific thought, inasmuch as they are unable to 
realize the changes which have taken place in the world 
of thought during the present century. They still cling 
to the scholastic error that soul and life are in some mys- 
terious manner identical, and seek to interpret physical 
phenomena in such a manner as to understand in physical 
terms the mechanism of spirit ! These crude attempts at 
interpreting phenomena as "physical manifestations" of 
spiritual life are in direct conflict with philosophy and 
science, and the reasons often so ostentatiously set forth 
by this school may be described, in the words of Herbert 
Spencer, as " those vitiations of evidence due to random 
observations, to the subjective states of the observers, 
to their enthusiasms, or prepossessions, or self-interests ; 
those that arise from the general tendency to set down 
as a fact observed what is really an inference from an 
observation, and also those that arise from the general 
tendency to omit the dissection by which small surface- 
results are traced to large interior causes." 

In treating of the tendency of modern thought, it may 
be well to see in what manner some of the most pains- 
taking investigators have met the objection of " material- 
ism," so often urged to-day, as well as in the past. Claude 
Bernard, Professor of Physiology in the College of France, 
has seen fit to refer to this charge. He says,— 

* Oliver Wendell Holmes : " Mechanism in Thought and Morals," 
pp. 64, 67. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 201 

"Preconceived ideas clearly have a great influence in 
discussing the functions of the brain, and a solution is 
combated by arguments used for the sake of their tend- 
ency. Some refuse to allow that the brain can be the 
organ of intelligence, from fear of being involved by that 
admission in materialistic doctrines ; while others eagerly 
and arbitrarily lodge intelligence in a round or fusiform 
nerve-cell, for fear of being charged with spiritualism. 
For ourselves, we are not concerned about such fears. 
Physiology tells us that, except in the difference and 
greater complexity of the phenomena, the brain is the 
organ of intelligence in exactly the same way that the 
heart is the organ of circulation and the larynx that of 
the voice. We discover everywhere a necessary bond 
between the organs and their functions ; it is a general 
principle, from which no organ of the body can escape. 
Physiology should copy the example of more advanced 
sciences, and free itself from the fetters of philosophy that 
would impede its progress; its mission is to seek truth 
calmly and confidently, its object is to establish it beyond 
doubt or change, without any alarm as to the form under 
which it may make its appearance." 

That the brain, or the whole nervous system, is the 
organ of mind, is a conclusion in no way fraught with 
the terrible results so many imagine. Dr. Carpenter has 
spent a lifetime investigating the physiology of mind, 
and on more than one occasion has expressed his belief 
in terms no one can regard as materialistic. He is of 
the opinion "that science points to (though at present I 
should be far from sajdng that it demonstrates) the 
origination of all power in mind. . . . When meta- 
physicians, shaking off the bugbear of materialism, will 
honestly and courageously study the phenomena of the 
mind of man in their relation to those of his body, I believe 



202 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

that they will find in their relation their best arguments 
for the presence of infinite mind in universal nature." 
Modern science has swung clear from its old moorings, 
and is rapidly seeking to embrace all phenomena within 
its domain. Mind can no longer claim to be beyond its 
grasp and to dwell secluded in mystery. The tendency of 
thought in this direction is forcibly expressed by a recent 
writer, as follows : " Whilst the manifestation of mental 
phenomena, in the ordinary sense of the term, corresponds 
only to a fractional part of nerve-activities in general, 
there is, again, the very best reason for believing that 
consciousness, so far from being coextensive with mind, 
or mental phenomena, is in reality limited to a compara- 
tively small portion of what may be rightly ranged under 
this category. Many truly mental phenomena never 
reveal themselves in consciousness at all, and the roots 
of these strike far and wnde : so that, instead of accepting 
the popular view that the brain is the organ of mind, I 
believe it would be nearer the truth to look upon the 
whole nervous system as the organ of mind, — a doctrine 
which has already been taught by Mr. G. H. Lewes and 
others. The brain, it is true, is its principal organ, 
whilst consciousness or feeling is probably only attend- 
ant upon the activity of quite a liuiited portion of this. 
And, as Mr. Herbert Spencer has so clearly pointed out, 
in the evolution of mind we each one of us experience 
the constant transitions whereby a state or act (the re- 
currence of which was at first always attended by con- 
sciousness) at last, when thoroughly familiar, may take 
place quite unconsciously, or without in the least arousing 
our attention. The more fully such phenomena, there- 
fore, are recognized as parts of an orderly succession, by 
which alone greater and greater complexities of thought 
and feeling are rendered possible, the more will it become 



THE SriRITUAL DELUSTOX. 203 

evident that the sphere of mind cannot at any time be 
circumscribed by the then present or possible states of 
consciousness, — the more it is obvious that in our con- 
ception of mind we should also include all past stages of 
consciousness, the representatives of which, now in the 
form of unconscious nerve-actions, are from moment to 
moment manifesting themselves potentially, if not actu- 
ally, in all our present thoughts, feelings, and volitions."* 

An able article some time since appeared in the Popular 
Science Review (London), contributed by Dr. Richardson, 
in which he contends that the nerves are enveloped in a 
nerve-fluid or ether, that by its molecular motion sensa- 
tion is communicated and the commands of the will 
transmitted. He states that' it extends in all persons 
more or less beyond the extremities of the nerve-struc- 
ture, varying in depth and density in various persons. 
Mr. Crookes, F.R.S., the editor of the Quarterly Journal 
of Science and of the Chemical Neivs, more widely 
known by reason of his investigations of the niediuniship 
of Mr. D. D. Home, has constructed an instrument of 
extreme delicacy, which seems to indicate the existence 
of such a " nerve-atmosphere" as more or less encompass- 
ing every person with whom he has made trial of it. 

Many of the phenomena narrated in the preceding 
pages would seem to be explicable only upon the hy- 
pothesis of the existence of such a medium, in which 
the conscious or unconscious exercise of the mental 
faculties excites molecular motion, as the physical force 
of light excites molecular motion in the ether-filling 
space. In the hands of so experienced an investigator 
as Mr. Crookes, there is but little fear of imitating 



* H. Charlton Bastian, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. : " The Beginnings of 
Life," pp. 42-44. 



204 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the fallacious methods pursued bj Reichenbach in 
his so-called discovery of odic force, now known to be 
destitute of any plausible evidence. Granting the exist- 
ence of such a medium as Dr. Richardson claims to have 
discovered, the manifestation of intelligence in spirital 
phenomena would cease to be a source of wonder. Phys- 
iologists are familiar with speculations concerning the 
existence of a medium for the transmission of thought, 
which has been often broached under the names of " vital 
force," "brain-waves," "soul-force," or "nerve-ether;" 
and, although the writer is convinced that these terms 
shadow forth a great truth, and that Dr. Richardson's 
discovery will in the main be substantiated, it is not 
necessary to the line of argument herein pursued to de- 
vote any space to the consideration of it, or to rely upon 
it as an essential condition. 

If I have succeeded in presenting sufficient grounds for 
believing that the mental phenomena are directly depend- 
ent upon the mental organization of the " medium,,^'' and 
consequently are wholly within the domain of physiologi- 
cal investigation, the more detailed explanation of the 
methods by which they are evolved may well be left to 
other hands. That the unconscious brain can perform 
all the mental acts that are possible under the control of 
conscious volition has already been shown, as well as its 
power to exert a mental force affecting the consciousness 
of others; and the discovery of a "nerve-ether" would 
render such acts more intelligible, as well as afford an 
explanation of many " physical manifestations," such as 
the movement of heavy bodies without personal contact. 
That a force proceeding from the human organism can 
move ponderable bodies without physical contact may be 
a conclusion more difficult to win assent to; and yet I 
think it is one that can be abundantly verified. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 205 



CHAPTER YI. 

PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS. 

1. Involuntai-y actions. 

" What thought is," says G. H. Lewes, " we do not 
know, perhaps we never shall. We do not know what 
life is. But the realm of mystery may be reduced to one 
of ' orderly mystery ;' we may learn what are the laws of 
Life, and what are the laws of Thought." So in investi- 
gating so-called physical phenomena we may be enabled 
to learn some of their laws, and, while frankly admitting 
the existence of much still mysterious, may still feel 
convinced that the phenomena cannot be the effect of 
invisible personal agents, and that the mystery can be 
shown to lie in our failure to comprehend the natural 
processes involved. In a previous chapter it has been 
shown that the mind, while controlled by an uncon- 
scious idea, often directs the movements of the body ; 
that painting, reading, or writing may be performed 
without the fact being known to consciousness. We 
have seen that during abstraction, in natural sleep, and 
in the trance state, the connection between the brain 
and nerves being closed, the activity of the cerebrijm is 
carried on independently of the sensoriura, from the stock 
of sense-impressions stored up by memory. Attention 
also has been called to the fact that when the mind is 
"under control" by a dominant idea, this will invariably 
shape the action evolved. Dryden has said, — 

" Sometimes forgotten things, long cast behind, 
Rusli forward in the brain, and come to mind; 

18 



206 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

The nurse's legends are for truth received, 
And the man dreams but what the boy believed ; 
Sometimes we but rehearse a former play, 
The night restores our actions done by day." 

Spirital investigators are required to exhibit a passive 
frame of mind, to patiently wait for the expected mani- 
festations. Singing is generally resorted to, that all minds 
may be rendered more "harmonious," as the " influences" 
are often seriously retarded by the action of the " will- 
powers" of non-passive investigators. Circles are formed 
which often continue for ten, twenty, or thirty nights before 
any phenomena are vouchsafed. A lady medium, well 
known as a "spirit-artist," sat in a circle certain evenings 
consecutively for months before she was "controlled." In 
this case the " spirits" had promised to develop her as an 
artist before the close of the year ; and during the last days 
of December, when expectancy was at its highest point, 
the materials were called for and a sketch made, the lady 
all the while being in an unconscious trance state. This 
lady in her childhood, her mother once informed me, had 
shown a natural taste for drawing, frequently having 
used the juice of the elderberry for ornamental purposes 
on fences and barns. In her unconscious state, the domi- 
nant idea of "spirit-possession" and concentrated expecta- 
tion assumed " control," and manifestations ensued. 

In circles the great prerequisite " condition" for the 
successful invocation of "spirits" is recognized to be the 
entire passivity of the voluntary powers. " Passive re- 
ceptivity" is the key to spirital favor. Each subsequent 
sitting confirms this use of the physical organs, until they 
become automatic, fixed by habit as well in this state as 
in the conscious moments. When Charles XII. was 
struck dead by a cannon-ball, he clasped his hand on the 
hilt of his sword. The mind requires but one-tenth of a 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 201 

second to form a conclusion and act accordingly, bat the 
velocity of the ball far exceeded the "rapidity of thought," 
and we are thus compelled to regard the movement of the 
arm and hand as an unconscious reflex action. Some 
experiments performed on the body of a negro criminal, 
hanged in the city of Richmond, Va., gave an interesting 
illustration of the reflex action of the nerves and muscles. 
Under electrical stimulus the arms assumed the position 
necessary for playing the banjo ! This was a position 
that had once required the constant attention of con- 
sciousness, but habitual use had rendered it automatic, 
and the voluntary power had passed into an involuntary 
one, capable of being induced after consciousness had for- 
ever quitted its home. 

It should be borne in mind that physiology gives us no 
warrant for drawing a sharp line of demarcation between 
the voluntary and involuntary powers of the nerves. 
Some even assert that there exists no involuntary action 
but can be controlled or modified by conscious volition. 
Mr. G. H. Lewes, in his " Physiology of Common Life," 
says,— 

" It is an error to assei't, as most physiologists and 
psychologists persist in asserting, that these actions can-^ 
not be controlled, that they are altogether beyond the 
interference of other centres, and cannot by any effort of 
ours be modified. It is an error to suppose these actions 
are essentially distinguished from the voluntary move- 
ment of the hands. We have acquired a power of definite 
direction in the movement of the hands, which renders 
them obedient to our will ; but this acquisition has been 
of slow, laborious growth. If we w^ere asked to use our 
toes as we do our fingers, to grasp, paint, sew, or write 
with them, we should find it not less impossible to control 
the movement of the toes in these directions, than to con- 



208 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

tract the iris, or cause a burst of perspiration to break 
forth.* Certain movements of the toes are possible 
to us ; but, unless the loss of our fingers had made it 
necessary that we should use our toes in complicated and 
slowly-acquired movements, we can do no more with 
them than the young infant can do with his fingers. Yet 
men and women have written, sewed, and painted with 
their toes. All that is required is that certain links should 
be established between sensations and movements ; by 
continual practice these links are established ; and what 
is impossible to the majority of men becomes easy to the 
individual who has acquired this power. This same 
power can be acquired over what are called the organic 
actions ; although the habitual needs of life do not tend 
towards such acquisition, and without some strong cur- 
rent setting in that direction, or some peculiarity of 
organization rendering it easy, it is not acquired. In 
ordinary experience the number of those who can write 
with their toes is extremely rare, the urgent necessity 
which would create such a power being rare ; and rare 
also are the examples of those who have any control over 
the movement of the iris, or action of a gland ; but both 
rarities exist. 

"It would be difficult to choose a more striking exam- 
ple of reflex action than the contra,ction of the iris of the 
eye under the stimulus of light, and to ordinary men, 
having no link established which would guide them, it is 
uttei'ly impossible to close the iris by an effort. It would 
be not less impossible to the hungry child to get on a 
chair and reach the food on the table, until that child had 



* It might seem, a priori, equally difficult to "cause a burst of in- 
spiration to break forth;" yet thousands fondly believe it to be as easy 
of accomplishment as drawing water from a faucet. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSIOX. 209 

learned how to do so. Yet there are men who have 
learned how to contract the iris. The celebrated Fontana 
liad this power; which is possessed also by a medical 
man now living at Kilmarnock, — Dr. Faxton, — a fact 
authenticated by no less a person than Dr. Allen Thom- 
son. Dr. Paxton can contract or expand the iris at will, 
without changing the position of his eye, and without an 
effort of adaptation to distance. 

" To move the ears is impossible to most men. Yet 
some do it with ease, and all can learn to do so. Some 
men have learned to 'ruminate' their food; others to 
vomit with ease ; and some are said to have the power 
of perspiring at will. That many glands are under the 
influence of the will — in other words, that we can stimu- 
late them to secretion by a mere ideal stimulus — is too 
well known to need instance here. Even the beating of 
the heart can be arrested. 

" .... It thus appears that even the actions 
which most distinctly bear the character recognized as 
involuntary — uncontrollable — are only so because the 
ordinary processes of life furnish no necessity for their 
control. And while it appears that the involuntary can 
become voluntary, it is familiar to all that the voluntary 
actions tencZ, hy constant repetition, to become involuntary, 
and are then called secondary automatic." 

Dendy ("Philosophy of Mystery," pp. 310-71) relates 
a number of instances of the power of the will over 
involuntary muscles; one of the suspension of the action 
both of the heart and lungs, during which there was no 
apparent vapor on the mirror held to the mouth. Of this 
instance he says, " During the many hours in which 
this voluntary trance existed, there was a total absence 
of consciousness, yet a faculty of self-reanimalion I" 

These examples are far more marvelous than anything 
18* 



\ 



210 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

recorded of " automatic mediums." For it is more difficult 
for the will to direct an involuntary action, than it is for 
the unconscious brain, or, if the term may be used, the 
extra-conscious mind, when influenced by concentrated 
expectancy. The manifestation of intelligence, as we have 
seen, would, so far from being surprising, be the result 
naturally expected to be associated with the phenomenon. 
The dominant state of expectancy for the occurrence of 
phenomena priDceeding from intelligent beings would not 
only operate upon the Involuntary nerves with a force 
equal to that of conscious volition, but, it is not too 
much to assert, would sensibly augment the power, be- 
coming more concentrated than in our conscious mo- 
ments, when the mind is open to sense-impressions ; and 
the systematic "development" of this power, at first often 
so laborious and protracted, on each I'ecurring manifesta- 
tion becomes more and more of the character of a "reflex 
action." Thus a " well-developed medium" has but to close 
her eyes, resign herself to passivity, and in a minute the 
hand is controlled to write, or paint. There is one point 
which still remains a "marvel ;" that is, hoiu the sense of 
seeing is exercised while the eyes are closed ; but it is a 
"marvel" no greater than many exhibited by the som- 
nambule and dreamer. In fact, the true solution of the 
phenomena, instead of being sought in the domain of 
"spiritual faculties" or "intuition," might be attained 
by a closer study of the manifestations of instinct in the 
lower forms of life, many of which are as marvelous as, if 
not analogous to, the manifestations of " soul-perceptions" 
in man. To all true students of nature, however, it must 
ever remain by far the greatest " manifestation" of this 
phenomena-loving age, that thousands of individuals, 
having attained the years of legal majority, can be found 
willing and even anxious to abnegate the powers of the 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 211 

will and become mere instruments for the manifestation 
of involuntary powers. To all such who may have read 
this work as far as the present point, the following re- 
marks of Dr. Carpenter, quoted from " Human Physi- 
ology," are seriously commended. He says, — 

" It is, in fact, the virtue of the will that we are not 
mere thinking automata, mere puppets to be pulled by 
suggesting strings, capable of being played upon by every 
one who shall have made himself master of our springs 
of action. It may be freely admitted that such thiidiing 
automata do exist; for there are many individuals whose 
will has never been called into due exercise, and who 
gradually or almost entirely lose the power of exerting 
it, becoming the mere creatures of habit and impulse ; 
and there are others in whom such states are of occa- 
sional occurrence ; whilst in others, again, they may be 
artificially induced. 

"It maybe unhesitatingly laid down that, if the di- 
recting powers of the will be suspended, the capability 
of correcting even the most illusory ideas by an appeal 
to ' common sense' is for the time annihilated. Of this 
we have a t^^pical example in the state of dreaming. 
Hence we see that if the human mind should lose for a 
time the power of volitional self-direction it cannot shake 
off the yoke of any ' dominant idea,' however tyrannical, 
but must execute its behests ; — it cannot bring any notion 
with which it may be possessed to the test of ' common 
sense,' but must accept it as a belief, if it be impressed 
on the consciousness with adequate force ; — it cannot 
recall any /act, even the most familiar, that is beyond its 
immediate grasp \ — upon any idea, therefore, with which 
it may be possessed, the whole force of its attention is 
for the time concentrated, so that the most incongruous 
conception presents itself with all the vividness of reality." 



212 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 

Professor Dods, in his Lectures on " Spirit Manifesta- 
tions," says, "I know a Quaker lady in Salem, Mass., 
who, from long habits of passivity, waiting for the moving 
of the spirit, could strike every joint of her body together 
so as to be heard in an adjoining room. Nor was it in 
her power to prevent it. Her manner of devotion had 
become itself a disease. The habit was stamped upon 
her involuntary powers, and they ruled. She was un- 
ceasingly rapping during her waking moments, and was 
still only when she was asleep. She was the greatest 
rapping medium I ever knew." Many instances of habits 
voluntarily formed becoming involuntary must be familiar 
to all thoughtful readers, and history furnishes us with 
numerous cases of their having become epidemic and 
afflicting a whole community with " accredited manifes- 
tations." Dr. Babbington says, "The imaginations of 
women are always more excitable than those of men, and 
are therefore susceptible of every folly when they lead a 
life of strict seclusion and their thoughts are constantly 
turned inward upon themselves. Hence, in orphan asy- 
lums, hospitals, and convents, the nervous disorder of one 
female so easily and quickly becomes the disorder of all. 
A nun in a very large convent in France, by some strange 
impulse, began to mew like a cat. Shortly after, other 
nuns also mewed together every day at a certain time 
for several hours in succession, annoying the whole neigh- 
borhood with a cat-concert. This it was not in their 
power to prevent till they were relieved by a superior 
impression. . , . But of all the epidemics of 
females which I myself have seen in Germany, or of 
which the history is known to me, the most remarkable 
is the celebrated convent epidemic of the fifteenth century, 
which Cardan describes. A certain nun in Germany fell 
to biting all her companions. In the course of a short 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 213 

time all the nuns of this convent began biting- each other. 
The news of this infatuation among the nuns soon spread, 
and passed from convent to convent through a great part 
of Germany, principally Saxony and Brandenburg. It 
afterwards visited the nunneries in Holland, and at last 
the nuns had the biting mania even as far as Rome." 

Perhaps one of the most singular instances recorded 
of this nature — the contagious effect of involuntary actions 
— is narrated by Dr. Stone, in his work on the " Progress 
of Fanaticism." He is describing an extensive religious 
excitement in the State of Kentucky in the early part of 
the present century. The preacher had been a great 
hunter, and in his public addresses used as figures of 
speech words and phras&s from the hunter's vocabu- 
lar}'. His hearers were vehemently exhorted to chase 
the devil and tree him as they would any wild beast 
endangering their households. One individual, at a grove 
meeting, of a sufficiently nervous temperament to be easily 
impressed, started off on full run in pursuit of the devil ! 
Others were involuntarily led to join in the pursuit. 
Professor Dods, who investigated this statement, and saw 
and conversed with an eye-witness of this strange scene, 
says this was called "the running exercise !" Professor 
Dods says, " One climbed up into a tree after the devil, 
and others involuntarily caught the mania. This was 
called ' the climbing exercise !' One individual was moved 
to bark ; and soon others, even though they used every 
method to prevent it, fell to involuntary barking like dogs, 
while others gathered around the tree praying for success. 
This was called ' treeing the devil !' It was literally a 
devil-chase ! And such a time of running, climbing, dog- 
barking, and devil-chasing, was perhaps never known 
before nor since. I doubt whether it can be surpassed 
in any of its mysteries, even by the rapping, writing, and 
table-tipping business of the present day. 



214 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" On another occasion, insisting upon the words of our 
Saviour being literally understood, — ' Except ye be con- 
verted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into 
the kingdom of heaven,' — one individual went to playing 
marbles in the broad aisle of the church ; others involun- 
tarily joined him. An old man undertook to expostulate, 
saying that it was carrying matters, as he thought, rather 
too far. On hearing this, an old lady who was down 
upon her knees among the marble-players sprang to her 
feet, grasped her umbrella, and, taking a side-saddle seat 
on it, rode down the aisle in full childlike glee. On seeing 
this, the old gentleman could resist no longer, — seized his 
cane, threw himself astride of it, like any boy, and rode 
down the aisle after her, exclaiming, in a sing-song voice, 
* Oh, my dear brethren and sisters, I feel the full childlike 
spirit carrying me to heaven on a wooden boss !' Several 
others now caught the mania, having no power to resist 
it. Others, less serious, broke out in convulsive laughter, 
shouted and hurrahed, and the meeting broke up in one 
scene of confusion. It was not in the power of these per- 
sons to resist it. The involuntary powers, by one single 
impression, took the entire and irresistible control." 

The professor narrates another instance, referred to 
by Dr. Stone, the facts of which were gathered by him 
during his travels in North Carolina in 1832. As his 
book is now out of print, I shall quote the passage entii'e : 

"A man had set himself up as a preacher who had 
received a commission direct from heaven, and as clergy- 
men were not willing to admit him into their pulpits, he 
traveled about, preaching in groves in various sections 
of the State. He was a man of a very nervous tempera- 
ment, and when he became excited in speaking his ges- 
tures were violent, yet impressive. Still, they were made 
by his voluntary powers. He possessed, also, a good 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 215 

faculty for expressing the various passions and emotions 
of the soul in his countenance, according to the sentiment 
he was uttering. These gestures of his bands and 
motions of his face, and even feet, would involuntarily 
continue for some time after he took his seat, while the 
concluding hymn was being sung, and frequently com- 
mence before he rose to speak, and, indeed, at any time 
when he was excited. But as he, in all these cases, 
exerted his voluntary powers to keep his hands, face, and 
feet still, so the conflict between the voluntary and invol- 
untary powers produced, not gestures, but most violent, 
sudden, and irregular jerkings and twitchings. And 
instead of expressing the passions of his soul in his coun- 
tenance, he made up the most horrible faces that can be 
well conceived. As he could not account for these things 
in himself, and as it was not in his power to prevent them, 
so he attributed the whole to the power of the spirit! 

" Now, it so happened that every one of his convert? 
was at first seized with these most singular spasmodic 
motions of the limbs and contortions of the countenance. 
Hence these involuntary motions were called 'the jerks,' 
and whenever any one was converted it was expressed 
by saying that such a one had got the jerks ! The news 
of these most singular manifestations spread over the 
whole region round about. Persons came from a dis- 
tance of twenty and even thirty miles to hear him and 
see the wonders. And it so happened, at length, that as 
many of those who came laughing and mocking were 
seized with the jerks as of those who were in reality con- 
verted. This was pronounced by the eccentric speaker 
as the curse of God upon those who scoffed. But the 
mania spread, exciting the mirth and ridicule of some, 
and the astonishment and awe of others, till the excite- 
ment became general ; and such a time of jerking, 



216 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

twitching, and making up wry faces at each other, it is 
difficult to imagine, or even describe. Here, then, is a 
stril<ing proof of the fact that the involuntary powers of 
some can be made to act suddenly, even by one solitary 
impression made upon the mind." 

Those of my readers who have had opportunities for 
observing the actions of trance-mediums during the 
earlier portion of their "development" cannot have failed 
to notice the nervous twitchings and "jerks" that pre- 
ceded the control of the involuntary powers of the mind. 
During the " planchette" mania I procured one of those 
mysterious instruments and carried it home, to see if any 
of my family could write with it. In the hands of one 
member it moved off rapidly and wrote quite distinctly, 
answering questions readily enough, but with very little 
regard to veracity if the questions were such as the per- 
son using it could not have answered herself One of 
the first " communications" received was the spirital 
autograph of Silas Wright. In response to the suggestion 
that we were ready to hear anything he might see fit to 
communicate, the pencil wrote this sentence : " I am an 
honest man." No one seeming inclined to dispute the 
statement, we heard no more from the ex-Governor. 
One noticeable fact I observed in connection with this 
planchette writing: the lady's hand on the board, after 
repeated experiments, was seized with a spasmodic trem- 
bling, and moved off from the planchette on to the table. 
In response to a suggestion that " they" might desire to 
write by means of her hand, a pencil was furnished, and 
several sheets of paper were filled with illegible zigzag 
marks. I found that whenever she sat down with a 
pencil in her hand the arm would again exhibit the usual 
premonitory twitchings before the pencil began its mark- 
ings. Once, when her mind was on a dear friend, then 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 217 

recently deceased, the friend's name was legibly written 
on the paper before her. Lack of faith, however, on her 
part, prevented the spirital hypothesis from becoming 
the dominant idea, and no other intelligible writing was 
produced by her hand except that given by the menda- 
cious planchette. lu those cases, however, she averred 
that the answers were always present in her conscious- 
ness before the pencil had finished writing, although she 
was unconscious of any effort on her part to influence 
the writing or direct the movement of the board. When 
a question was asked, her mind necessarily would form 
some answer, and, although volition ha.d no conscious 
direction, that answer would be involuntarily written 
through the agency of the planchette. I have no doubt 
but there have been many instances where the answers 
were written when this connection between the working 
of the mind and the consciousness did not exist, and the 
answer would then only be known to the passive opera- 
tor by seeing it written out on the paper. A firm belief 
in the reality of the communication would necessarily 
tend to produce this result. In some instances names 
were written entirely unknown save to some one present 
— one that of a school-mate of a gentleman present, long 
since dead, and remembered only as a school companion 
in earlier years. Sometimes a short " communication" 
would follow; other times the "control would be 
changed," as our friends would say, and some other 
idea would direct the pencil. Those who have never 
seen writing by this instrument, or are unable to write 
with it, may easily obtain similar " communications" in 
a far easier manner. Let one of the party be selected, 
who shall answer every question put, of whatever nature, 
on the spur of the moment, without any hesitancy or 
deliberation, giving the first thoughts which arise in the 
K 19 



218 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

mind. True, there would be no mystery connected with 
it, to give a zest to the farce ; but so far as the " intelli- 
gent influence" is concerned, the answers would be of 
the same nature as those produced through the planchette 
by the action of the involuntary nerves. 

There are still other actions, partaking largely of the 
marvelous, which seem to come under a different classifi- 
cation from any yet considered. A few instances on 
record may be referred to, in order that the nature of the 
phenomena may be more clearly defined. Many years 
since, there was reported in Silliman^s Journal a case 
of a lady becoming charged with electricity to such a 
degree that she emitted electric sparks from her fingers 
and toes, sometimes seen, heard, and felt, while at other 
times the sparks were neither seen nor felt, but heard, 
producing a " mysterious series of raps." The narrative 
says, " On the evening of January 28, during a somewhat 
extraordinary display of the Northern Lights, a respect- 
able lady became so highly charged with electricity as 
to give out vivid electrical sparks from the end of each 
finger to the face of each of the company present. This 
did not cease with the heavenly phenomenon, but con- 
tinued several months, during which time she was con- 
stantly charged and giving off electrical sparks to every 
conductor she approached. This was extremely vexa- 
tious, as she could not touch the stove, or any metallic 
utensil, without first giving off an electrical spark, with 
the consequent twinge. The state most favorable to this 
phenomenon was an atmosphere of about eighty degrees, 
moderate exercise, and social enjoyment. It disappeared 
in an atmosphere approaching zero, and under the debili- 
tating effects of fear. When seated by the stove, read- 
ing, with her feet upon the fender, she gave sparks at the 
rate of three or four a minute ; and under the most favor- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 219 

able circumslancos a spark that could be seen, heard, or 
felt passed every second. She could charge others in 
the same way when insulated, who could then give 
sparks to others. To make it satisfactory that her dress 
did not produce it, it was changed to cotton and woolen, 
without altering the phenomenon. The lady is about 
thirty, of sedentary pursuits and delicate state of health, 
having for two years previously suffered from acute rheu- 
matism and neuralgic affections, with peculiar symptoms." 
A case somewhat more widely known was that of the 
French peasant-girl Angelique Cottin, in the year 1846. 
The first manifestations observed were unaccountable 
movements of the frame of a loom at which she was 
weaving silk gloves. Terrified at the apparently causeless 
motion, she ran to a distance, when it ceased. On again 
approaching the loom it recommenced its tippings. Her 
parents, much distressed, took the girl to the church to 
have the demoniacal " influence" exorcised ; but the curate, 
fortunately being a man of sense, sent her to a physician. 
This singular phenomenon soon grew more marked in its 
manifestations, as we should naturally expect. For the 
girl, firmly convinced that her conscious self was not the 
author of these mysterious movements, would naturally 
think, as her parents thought, that they were the result 
of some " outside influence," and her mind under this 
impression would sink into a state of complete passiuiYy, 
thus unconsciously aiding "development." Wherever 
she went the furniture moved, and articles touched by her 
clothes would fly as if hurled by a human hand direct 
from the "spheres." A man seated on a tub near which 
she was standing w^as lifted on his seat into the air. 
When placed on certain non-conductors of electricity 
tiiese effects were observed to diminish, and insulation 
was at times necessary to enable her to take repose. 



220 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

A somewhat similar case occurred a ^ew years since, 
near Boston. An Irish servant-girl became possessed 
with an unaccountable attraction, by which furniture and 
other articles would be drawn towards her, and crockery 
broken without personal contact. The spirital neighbors 
of the family with whom the girl resided kindly oifered 
their services to ascertain the wishes of the "spiiHts^' 
operating through her, but their services were declined. 
The girl was removed to a hospital, and subsequently died, 
and her death was referred to by the Banner of Light as 
evidence of the injurious effects of scientific treatment, 
whereas, if she had been properly " developed," submitted 
to harmonious influences, — and so on, ad infinitum, ad 
nauseam ! 

In the case of the Seeress of Prevorst, Madame Hauffe, 
similar movements of physical objects occurred. William 
Hewitt says, " While Madame Hauffe was spending 
some time at Kerner's house, gravel and ashes were 
thrown about where no visible creature was to throw 
them. A stool rose gradually to the ceiling and then 
came down again. ... It was a fact that when 
Madame Hauffe was in a particularly magnetic state she 
could not sink in her bath, but rose to the surface, and 
could only be held down by hands." Justinus Kerner 
published a narrative of her eventful life, from which I 
make one extract : " As I had been told by her parents, 
a year before her father's death, that at the period of her 
early magnetic state she was able to make herself heard 
by her friends as they lay in bed at night in the same 
village, but in other houses, by a knocking, as is said of 
the dead, I asked her whether she was able to do so 
now, and at what distance. She answered that she 
would sometimes do it, — that to the spirit space was 
nothing. Some time after this, as we were going to bed, 



TUE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 221 

— my children and serv^ants being already asleep, — we 
heard a knocking as if in the air over our heads. There 
were six knocks, at intervals of half a minute. It was a 
hollow yet clear sound, soft, but distinct. On the fol- 
lowing evening, when she was asleep, when we had 
mentioned the knocking to nobody whatever, she asked 
me whether she should soon knock to us again, which, 
as she said it was hurtful to her, I declined." 

Although the " seeress" professed to see " spirits," no 
claim was ever made of their acting through her; she 
professed to act by her own power, though in what 
manner these electro-magnetic discharges were made 
audible at so great a distance is not so clear. I often 
make magnetic passes over persons suffering from head- 
aches or other nervous disorders, almost invariably with 
complete success, and I am often assured by skeptical 
patients that they feel something striking on their faces 
or hands. Some describe it as " sparks," others as " drops 
of warm water." For a long time I ascribed this to 
imagination ; but I have been assured of the same fact 
by gentlemen of culture, who were at first entirely skep- 
tical of any tranquilizing effects following the "passes." 
Whether this feeling be founded on fact or imagination, 
I never was conscious of being a medium in allaying 
nervous disorders, although I have met with perfect 
success with friends who were at the time delirious. 

In Appletons^ Journal for November 12, 1870, is an 
interesting article on Electrical Persons and Places, by 
II. Butterworth. The author refers to some of the in- 
stances narrated above, and gives others equally remark- 
ai)le. Iwill quote one or two instances : 

" A careful observer of the various phenomena of 
animal magnetism declares that, in many cases, somnam- 
bulists are capable of giving an electric shock. Made- 

19* 



222 THE SPIRfTUAL DELUSION: 

moiselle Emmerich, a beautiful and accomplished lady, 
sister to Professor Emmerich, a theologian at Strasburg, 
became unnerved by a fright that occasioned a long and 
peculiar illness. According to Dr. Eunemoser, her body 
became so highly electrical that she imparted shocks to 
all who approached her bedside. Wishing to call the 
attention of her brother to herself on one occasion, when 
he was in another part of the house, she sent him a 
severe shock by the mere force of the will. Some years 
ago a man and his wife, living in Providence, Rhode 
Island, became deranged at the same time, on the subject 
of spiritualism. They were people who, in their best 
days, were susceptible and subject to impressions ; they 
became ' mediums,' overtaxed their nervous energies, and 
at last went mad. They were confined in different rooms 
of the same house. Each was able to make impressions 
on the other, and each seemed to be conscious of the 
other's movements and feelings. . . . 

"I have found, among old English ghost-stories, 
nothing more remarkable than ' The Haunted House in 
Stockwell.' The circumstances of the Stockwell wonder, 
which I gather from an authentic, candid, and circum- 
stantial narrative of the astonishing transactions at 
Stockwell, in the county of Surrey, on Monday and Tues- 
day, the sixth and seventh days of January, 1*1*12, pub- 
lished with the consent and approbation of the family, are 
as follows : On the morning of the sixth of January, 
1*1*12, Mrs. Golding, an estimable English lady, was in her 
parlor, when she heard the glass in her kitchen falling 
and breaking. She was immediately summoned to the 
place by her maid, who told her that the dishes were 
falling from the shelves. Soon after these disturbances 
violent noises were heard all over the house, followed by 
a work of destruction fearful to behold. An alarm was 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 223 

given that called together the neighbors, and Mr. Row- 
lidge, a carpenter, declared that the foundation of the 
house was giving way, and that the house itself was in 
danger of falling. The disturbances seemed to follow the 
maid, who gave the appearance of being perplexed and 
grieved, but not in the least alarmed Once, when she 
was called to come down from her chamber, whither she 
doubtless went to escape observation, she answered in- 
differently, and made her appearance 'without any seem- 
ing fearful apprehensions.' It became necessary to bleed 
Mrs. Golding. Soon after the bleeding, the blood sprung 
out of the basin, and the basin broke to pieces. It was 
thought best to remove the furniture to a neighbor's, but, 
whenever any valuable was taken for the purpose, it im- 
mediately went to destruction. Mr. Hames attempted to 
take away a costly pier-glass, but parts of the frame flew 
off" in his hands. Mr. Saville was asked to drink some 
wine, but the bottle broke before it was uncorked. 'At 
all times of action,' says the narrative, ' Mrs. Golding's 
servant was walking backward and forward. Nor could 
they get her to sit down five minutes together, except 
when the family were at prayers, then all was quiet ; but, 
in the midst of the greatest confusion, she was as much 
composed as at any other time, and, with uncommon 
coolness of temper, advised her mistress not to be alarmed 
or uneasy, as she said these things could not be helped. 

" Mrs. Golding left her house, and, with her maid, went 
to Mrs. Pain's, where they passed the night. Here the 
work of destruction began anew. ' Everything,' says the 
narrative, 'was broke, till there was not above two or 
three cups and saucers remaining out of a considerable 
quantity of china.' 'About five o'clock Tuesday morn- 
ing,' continues the account, ' Mrs. Golding went up to her 
niece and desired her to get up, as the noises and de- 



224 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

struction were so great she could continue in the house 
DO longer. At this time, all the tables, chairs, and 
drawers were tumbling about. When Mrs. Pain came 
down, it was amazing beyond all description. Their only 
security was to quit the house.' They went to a Mr 
Fowler's. They had barely arrived, when utensils began 
to fly about as before. Mr. Fowler desired Mrs. Golding 
to quit the house, which she did, returning to her own 
home. It was observed that these disturbances seemed 
to be in some manner connected with the maid. They 
followed her wherever she went, and never manifested 
themselves except when she was present. It was, more- 
over, noticed that she seemed to understand the phe- 
nomena, and to speak of them in a familiar way. She 
was a blameless girl ; her mistress pitied her, but felt it 
her dut}^ to discharge her. At Mrs. Golding's were 
broke three pailfuls of china, etc. At Mrs. Pain's the 
broken dishes filled two pails. 

" That many remarkable effects, produced by so-called 
spirit-mediums, are electrical, no observant person ^can 
doubt. William Howitt, the most respectable writer on 
modern spiritualism, says, ' How often have we seen 
fire streaming from the finger of a medium ! How often 
have we felt the touch of spirit-fingers prick as from 
sparks of electricity !' 

" There are certain places, as well as persons, that 
become so electrical as to produce phenomena. As rapid 
motion develops electricity, windy and falling weather 
may produce it in great quantities. Dr. Livingstone 
mentions that the hot wind of Southern Africa is so elec- 
tric that a bunch of ostrich-feathers, held against it, 
becomes as strongly charged as if attached to a;i electric 
machine. A gusty fall of snow on mountainous places 
sometimes produces so great an amount of electricity as 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 225 

to cause a hissing sound in the air, and to affect the hair 
of the traveler. The faculty of second-sight, possessed 
by the Highlanders of Scotland, has been attributed to 
certain electrical influences that abound in those hilly 
regions. Many phenomena once regarded as super- 
natural are now explained as the effects of unusual quan- 
tities of electricity generated in the atmosphere." 

Mr. Butterworth cites a number of instances where 
similar manifestations have occurred, in which locality, 
rather than a person, seemed to furnish the requisite con- 
ditions ; and those desirous of still further pursuing the 
subject are referred to his article in Applelons' Journal, 
vol. iv., pp. 585-6. 

Enough has now been produced to exhibit many ways 
in which involuntary movements may occur without the 
aid of hypothetical "spirits." The larger portion of the 
more common manifestations abounding in our towns 
and villages may be resolved by the principles herein set 
forth. The involuntary powers of the mind may, with- 
out consciousness, produce any movement of the limbs 
or other bodily organs, possible to conscious volition. 
Furthermore, as in certain unhealthy states of the nerv- 
ous system the unconscious action of the brain often 
surpasses in intellectual power the conscious action ; so 
it would seem that the involuntary or ideo-motor actions 
are often beyond the capacity of the individual to accom- 
plish in the normal state.* Illustrations have also been 



*In the Sprinc/field (Mass.) Repnhlican of a recent date, among the 
Vermont items, I find the following illustration of the above: 

"An eleven-year-old miss named Houghton, who has received no 
instruction in dancing, has been mystifying Londonderry. She goes 
into a kind of trance, during which she trips it for hours with no 
apparent effort of the %cill, and with uo sense of weariness, the move- 
ment and time being described as graceful and perfect." 



226 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

given of the occurrence of phenomena as remarkable as 
any furnished by the advocates of the New Dispensation, 
in which ponderable bodies have been moved without 
personal contact, and in which physical effects have been 
experienced, arising from a cause not under volitional 
direction, in which " spirit-influence" was unthought of, 
and not claimed by the operating force. Having pre- 
pared the way for a more critical study of modern mani- 
festations, so loudly asserted to furnish " demonstrative 
evidence of the souVs immortality," we will venture to 
examine them more in detail. 

2. Hints towards a solution. 

In the winter of IStO-'Tl, while residing in the village 
of Montpelier, Yt., I was introduced to a young man 
named Henry Allen, well known as a medium for physi- 
cal manifestations. I attended several private seances, 
and, anxious to investigate the subject under the most 
favorable circumstances, invited him to my house, where 
an exhibition of his wonderful powers took place before 
about forty of my friends and neighbors. As these 
" manifestations" were submitted to a rigorous scrutiny, 
and were sufficiently marvelous to stand as a sample of 
the phenomena so frequently occurring, I will describe 
them. Mr. Allen, more widely known as " The Allen 
Boy," had but few preliminaries to arrange. Three 
large-back chairs were placed side by side across one 
corner of the room, facing the company assembled. Over 
the backs of these chairs was hung a heavy shawl, to 
prevent the light from the lamp from shining too brightly 
on the spirital scene of operations. 

In this corner, behind the extemporized screen, were 
placed two wooden chairs, on which were laid a dulcimer, 
a guitar, a triangle, and I think one or two other instru- 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 22 1 

ments. The medium sat in one of the three large chairs, 
with his back to the instruments. The audience had 
carefully examined the instruments before they were 
placed in readiness for the expected invisible guests, and, 
on suggestion of Mr. Allen that a committee be appointed, 
selected a gentleman who was at that time a member of 
the State government, and was not a believer in the 
spirital theory. He sat down on one of the chairs adjoin- 
ing Mr. Allen, and grasped his right arm with both hands, 
— one placed near the shoulder, the other on the wrist. 
Having satisfied himself that he had Mr. Allen securely 
by the arm, a shawl was thrown over their arms thus 
connected, as the "spirits" insisted it was a requisite 
condition to have the medium's arm and the instruments 
in the dark. With the light partially turned down, but 
not so much but that every object was visible in the room, 
we patiently awaited the promised manifestations. A 
lady kindly volunteered to sing and play on the organ to 
render the company harmonious, or, as I should prefer 
to express it, to induce the requisite state o^ jjassiviti/. 

Nearly an hour elapsed before the "spirits" reported 
themselves. The manifestations then commenced by 
slight vibrations of the strings of the guitar and dulcimer, 
gradually increasing in power. Soon tunes were played, 
and the guitar was seen to rise in the air until all of 
it was visible except the keys, which remained in the 
shade. While in this position, several pieces were neatly 
executed. Sounds were also heard during the evening 
in imitation of sawing wood, boring with an auger, 
planing a board, and clog-dancing; also a very clever 
imitation of the wind roaring through the rigging of a 
vessel was performed on the dulcimer. A slate and 
pencil were passed over the backs of the chairs into the 
corner, were taken, and soon returned with writing on it 



228 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

purporting to be from a negro sailor drowned at sea. 
Hands frequently came in sight, sometimes pulling the 
hair or boxing the ears of the medium or of the gentleman 
holding him. Whenever an attempt was made to look 
over the screen, the phenomena ceased, and began again 
gradually; and, generally, after each performance the 
instrument was heard to drop. The slate was dropped 
when it was the second time passed over after being 
taken. When any article fell to the floor, it was not used 
again. At the close of the seance all the instruments 
were thrown to the floor, and the wooden chairs hurled 
over the large chairs into the centre of the room. A heavy 
arm-chair, adjoining that in which our "committee" sat, 
seemed exhilarated at this scene, and slowly and sedately 
rose several feet in the air, coming down, however, with 
considerable force. During most of the time Mr. Allen 
was employed in whistling, and the gentleman by him 
was frequently asked if he still retained a firm hold on 
his arm, and as often replied that he was unable to dis- 
cover any movement on his part. His feet and limbs, as 
well as his head, were distinctly visible to every one in 
the room, and none saw any movement in the least sus- 
picious. All the manifestations were within a radius 
of about five feet of the medium ; most of thehi being 
between three and four feet distant. The believers were 
all satisfied, and the only ground for dissatisfaction on 
the part of the skeptical arose from their inability to ac- 
count for the phenomena on any theory of their own. I 
was firmly convinced of the honesty of Henry Allen, and 
have never seen any I'eason to change that opinion, al- 
though familiar with what was termed an "expose" of 
his powers, occurring in an Eastern city. A conviction 
that he could, not have performed these wonderful feats 
would be justly regarded as but poor evidence; but we 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSIOK. 229 

were all tliorouglily convinced that he did not aid them 
by muscular exertion. 

Here were " manifestations" enough to satisfy the most 
incredulous that they were not a delusion nor the re- 
sult of adroit trickery. Why not then accept the spir- 
ital theory that they were the result of the presence of 
"spirits," as asserted by the writing on the slate? For 
various reasons I regard this conclusion as untenable. I 
had attended a number of his seances, and, by closely ques- 
tioning those still more familiar with them, I arrived at 
certain conclusions, which, while not serving to explain 
the manner in which they were performed, were yet suf- 
ficient to discredit the alleged theory of their cause. I 
observed that in all his seances there was a general same- 
ness. The " spirit" played the same tunes, exhibited the 
same phenomena, and wrote about the same meagre ac- 
count of himself, night after night, with provoking mo- 
notony. Any attempt to converse by means of the slate 
was futile ; no information could be obtained beyond the 
established formula reiterated on every new occasion. 
The seafaring "influence" seemed to be playing a part, 
outside of which he could not depart. If an individual 
"out of the form" was really the producer of these sin- 
gular phenomena, and could handle the pencil to write his 
name and manner of his death on a slate, as M^ell as play 
on the various instruments furnished, why should he not 
be able to answer an unexpected question or communicate 
other than the routine phrases? If the intelligence mani- 
fested was an unconscious manifestation of the mental 
powers of the medium, there would be no marvel in the 
constant reiteration of the same story. Allen, himself 
honestly convinced of the "spirit's" existence, would not 
seek to coin the answers to new questions when first 
presented. Allen had considerable musical talent, was 

20 



230 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

familiar with the instruments used, and could whistle an 
accompaniment to the tunes played ; and I do not be- 
lieve he ever heard his hypothetical " sailor friend" play 
a tune entirely new to himself. Again, I observed that 
when any delay occurred, as frequently happened, Allen 
was the only one who could at once divine the cause. 
His inquiry was always answered with aflBrmative raps, 
whether it was for more or for less music from the 
organ. This mental sympathy between the medium and 
the "influence" was quite remarkable, on the spirital 
hypothesis. 

If the intelligence shown was not of a character, then, 
to justify us in conceding the presence of disembodied 
beings, did not the physical manifestations, occurring 
beyond the reach of the medium\s arm, even if he had had 
its use, '' demonstrate" the fact that invisible beings were 
at work in their production ? How otherwise can they 
be accounted for? exclaims the spiritist; strangely for- 
getting that the burden of proof rests on him, and not 
on those who are content with a verdict of "not proven." 
If he asserts that such phenomena cannot occur by other 
means, we may take exceptions to the sweeping state- 
ment, and show that they have occurred when " spirit 
power" was not alleged and was uncalled for. 

The recent experiments undertaken by Mr. Crookes, 
P.R.S., Dr. Huggins, F.R.S. and a Yice-President of the 
Royal Society, and Mr. Cox, S.L., F.R.G. S., to determine 
the nature of the phenomena presented by the medium 
Home, have been narrated in most of our leading journals, 
and are undoubtedly familiar to the reader's mind. Mr. 
Serjeant Cox has recently issued a small work on the 
subject, entitled " Spiritualism Answered by Science," in 
which he holds that the experiments made have already 
definitely settled the question. It is not to be inferred, 



Tllh: SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 231 

iniui xcr. that tins work, of Mr. Cox, represents the 
views f)f Mr. Crookes or Dr. Huggins, neither of whom 
would probably coincide with many of the conclusions 
arrived at by their legal friend. After somewhat closely 
examining the results of recent investigations of the 
phenomena presented, a brief examination will be made 
of Mr. Cox's theory of psychic force, a force directed by 
an "entity" or "non-corporeal something" within us, and 
operating on matter without. 

In the year 1869 the London Dialectical Society ap- 
pointed a committee to examine " the asserted phenomena 
of spiritualism." A sub-committee, composed of per- 
sons of good social standing and intellectual abilities, 
proceeded to experimentally test the phenomena, not to 
ascertain cau.ses or to hazard theories, but to examine 
and narrate results. This Society published a report 
of their committee in 18T1, with detailed accounts of 
the various experiments made and phenomena witnessed. 
This work* presents us with many instances of so-called 
" physical manifestations" and mental phenomena, which 
would not appear in the least marvelous to one ac- 
quainted with the phenomena presented by mental 
pathology ; but space forbids any extended reference to 
its contents. The report of the sub-committee No. 1 
is too important, however, to be omitted; and I here pre- 
sent it entire : 

" Since their appointment on the IGth February, 1869, 
your sub-committee have held forty meetings for the 
purpose of experiment and test. 

" All of these meetings were held at the private resi- 

••■ Report on Spiritualism of the Committee of the London Dialectical 
Society, together with the Evidence, Oral and Written, and a Selection 
from the Correspondence. London : Longman, Green, Reader &, Dyer, 
1871. 8vo, pp. 412. 



232 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 

deuces of members of the committee, purposely to pre- 
clude the possibility of pre-arranged mechanism or con- 
trivance. 

" The furniture of the room in which the experiments 
were conducted was on every occasion its accustomed 
furniture. 

" The tables were in all cases heavy dining-tables, re- 
quiring a strong effort to move them. The smallest of 
them was five feet nine inches long by four feet wide, 
and the largest nine feet three inches long and four and 
a half feet wide, and of proportionate weight. 

" The rooms, tables, and furniture generally were 
repeatedly subjected to careful examination before, dur- 
ing, and after the experiments, to ascertain that no con- 
cealed machinery, instrument, or other contrivance existed 
by means of which the sounds or movements hereinafter 
mentioned could be caused. 

" The experiments were conducted in the light of gas, 
except on the few occasions specially noted in the 
minutes. 

" Your committee have avoided the employment of 
professional or paid mediums, the raediumship being that 
of members of your sub-committee, persons of good 
social position and of unimpeachable integrity, having 
no pecuniary object to serve, and nothing to gain by 
deception. 

" Your committee have held some meetings without 
the aid of a medium (it being understood throughout this 
report the word 'medium' is used simply to designate an 
individual without whose presence the phenomena de- 
scribed either do not occur at all, or with greatly dimin- 
ished force and frequency), purposely to try if they could 
produce, by any efforts, effects similar to those witnessed 
when a medium was present. By no endeavors were 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSIOX. 233 

they enabled to produce anytliing at all resembling the 
raanifestations which took place in the presence of a 
medium. 

"Every test that the combined intelligence of your 
committee could devise has been tried with patience and 
perseverance. The experiments were conducted under 
a great variety of conditions, and ingenuity has been ex- 
erted in devising plans by which your committee might 
verify their observations and preclude the possibility of 
imposture or of delusion. 

" Your committee have confined their report to /ac^s 
witnessed by them in their collective capacity, which 
facts were palpable to the senses, and their reality capa- 
ble of demonstrative proof. 

" Of the members of your sub-committee about four- 
fifths entered upon the investigation wholly skeptical 
as to the reality of the alleged phenomena, firmly believ- 
ing them to be the result either of ivipoi<ture or of delu- 
sion, or of involuntary muscular action. It was only 
by irresistible evidence under conditions that precluded 
the possibility of either of these solutions, and after trial 
and test many times repeated, that the most skeptical of 
your sub-committee were slowly and reluctantly con- 
vinced that the phenomena exhibited in the course of 
their protracted inquiry were veritable facts. 

" The result of their long-continued and carefully-con- 
ducted experiments, after trial by every detective test 
they could devise, has been to establish conclusively : 

" First. That, under certain bodily or mental conditions 
of one or more of the persons present, a force is exhibited 
sufficient to set in motion heavy substances, without the 
employment of any muscular force, without contact or 
material connection of any kind between such substances 
and the body of any person present. 

20* 



234 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

" Second. That this force can cause sounds to proceed, 
distinctly audible to all present, from solid substances 
not in contact with, nor having any visible or material 
connection with, the body of any person present, aud which 
sounds are proved to proceed from such substances by 
the vibrations which are distinctly felt when they are 
touched. 

" Third. That this force is frequently directed by intel- 
ligence. 

" At thirty-four out of the forty meetings of your com- 
mittee some of these phenomena occurred. 

"A description of one experiment, and the manner of 
conducting it, will best show the care and caution with 
which your committee have pursued their investigations. 

" So long as there was contact, or even the possibility 
of contact, by the hands or feet, or even by the clothes, 
of any person in the room, with the substance moved or 
sounded, there could be no perfect assurance that the 
motions and sounds were not produced by the person so 
in contact. The following experiment was therefore 
tried : 

" On an occasion when eleven members of your sub- 
committee had been sitting round one of the dining-tables 
above described for forty minutes, and various motions 
and sounds had occurred, they, by way of test, turned 
the backs of their chairs to the table, at about nine inches 
from it. They all then knelt upon their chairs, placing 
their arras upon the backs thereof. In this position, their 
feet were of course turned away from the table, and by 
no possibility could be placed under it or touch the floor. 
The hands of each person were extended over the table 
at about four inches from the surface. Contact, there- 
fore, with any part of the table could not take pace 
without detection. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION: 235 

" In less than a minute the table, untouched, moved 
four times ; at Grst about five inches to one side, then 
about twelve inches to the opposite side, and then in like 
manner four inches and six inches respectively. 

" The hands of all present were next placed on the 
backs of their chairs, and about a foot from the table, 
which again moved as before, ^irt^ times, over spaces vary- 
ing from four to six inches. Then all the chairs were 
removed twelve inches from the table, and each person 
knelt on his chair as before; this time, however, folding 
his hands behind his back, his body being thus about 
eighteen inches from the table, and having the back of 
the chair between himself and the table. The table again 
moved four times, in various directions. In the course 
of this conclusive experiment, and in less than half an 
hour, the table thus moved, without contact or possi- 
bility of contact with any person present, thirteen times, 
the movements being in different directions, and some of 
them according to the request of various members of your 
sub- commit tee. 

"The table was then carefully examined, turned upside 
down, and taken to pieces, but nothing was discovered to 
account for the phenomena. The experiment was con- 
ducted throughout in the full light of gas above the 
table. 

" Altogether, your sub-committee have witnessed up- 
wards of fifty similar motions without contact, on eight 
different evenings, in the houses of members of your sub- 
committee, the most careful tests being applied on each 
occasion. 

"In all similar experiments the possibility of mechan- 
ical or other contrivance was further negatived by the fact 
that the movements were in various directions, — now to 
one side, then to the other; now up the room, now down 



236 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

the room : motions that would have required the co- 
operation of many hands or feet; and these, from the 
great size and weight of the tables, could not have been 
so used without the visible exercise of muscular force. 
Every hand and foot was plainly to be seen, and could 
not have been moved without instant detection. 

" Delusion was out of the question. The motions were 
in various directions, and were witnessed simultaneously 
by all present. They were matters of measurement, and 
not of opinion or of fancy. 

" And they occurred so often, under so many and such 
various conditions, with such safeguards against error or 
deception, and with such invariable results, as to satisfy 
the members of your sub-committee by whom the ex- 
periments were tried, wholly skeptical as most of them 
were when they entered upon the investigation, that 
therein a force capable of moving heavy bodies without 
material contact, and which force is in some unknown 
manner dejjendent upon the presence of human beings. 

"Your sub-committee have not, collectively, obtained 
any evidence as to the nature and source of this force, 
but simply as to the fact of its existence. 

" There appears to your committee to be no ground for 
the popular belief that the presence of skeptics interferes 
in any manner with the production or action of the force. 

"In conclusion, your committee express their unani- 
mous opinion that the one important physical fact thus 
proved to exist, that motion may be produced in solid 
bodies without material contact, by some hitherto un- 
recognized force operating within an undefined distance 
from the human organism, and beyond the range of mus- 
cular action, should be subjected to further scientific 
examination, with a view to ascertain its true source, 
nature, and power. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 23t 

" The notes of the experiments made at each meeting 
of your sub-committee are appended to tliis report." 

Mr. Serjeant Cox, a member of this sub-committee, in 
his work referred to above, supplements these experi- 
ments with some additional ones witnessed by himself 
elsewhere, a few of which are herewith presented. The 
first may justly be termed a " striking manifestation." 

" The next experiment was with the same psychic 
(medium), in the house of Dr. Edmunds, with a dining- 
table of unusual weight and size. The same test, by 
turning the backs of the chairs to the table and the ex- 
perimentalists kneeling upon them, produced the same 
results, but to a much greater extent than we bad before 
witnessed. In that position of the entire party, a heavy 
dining-table moved six times, — once over a space of eight 
inches at a swing. Then all the party, holding hands, 
stood in a circle round the table, at the distance from it 
first of two feet, and then of three feet, so that contact 
by any person present was phj^sically impossible. la 
this position the table lurched four times, — once over a 
space of more than two feet, and with great force. The 
extent of these movements without contact will be under- 
stood when I state that in the course of them this pon- 
derous table turned completely round ; that is to say, the 
end that was at the top of the room when the experiment 
began was at the bottom of the room when it concluded. 
The most remarkable part of this experiment was the 
finale. The table had been turned to within two feet of 
a complete reversal of its first position, and was standing 
out of square with the room. The party had broken up, 
and were gathered in groups about the room. Suddenly 
the table was swung violently over the two feet of dis- 
tance between its then position and its proper place, and 
Pft exactly square with the room, literally knocking down 



238 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

a lady who was standing in the way, in the act of put- 
ting on her shawl for departure. At that time nobody 
was touching the table, nor even within reach of it, except 
the young lady who was knocked down by it. ... 

" Alterations in the weight of tables and other fur- 
niture have been frequently exhibited. Bidding the table 
to be light, a finger lifted it ; the next moment, bidding 
it to be heavy, the entire force of the body was required 
to raise it from the floor. It was, however, suggested, 
by myself and others who were engaged in the scientific 
investigation of the phenomena of psychic force, that 
possibly this change in the weight of the subject of the 
force might be merely in our own sensations, and not an 
actual change in the gravity of the wood, or the opera- 
tion of any pressure upon it. To test this, a weighing 
machine was constructed, with a hook to fix to the table, 
the index accurately marking the weight of whatever was 
attached to it. Applying this machine to the table and 
other bodies, we found that the change was really in 
them, and not sensational merely, as we had suspected. 
This simple experiment was tried so often, and with so 
many precautions, as to establish it beyond doubt. The 
weights varied at every trial, but all proved the reality 
of the force that was operating. One instance will 
suffice. Weighed by the machine, the normal weight of 
a table, raised from the floor eighteen inches on one side, 
was eight pounds ; desired to be light, the index fell to 
five pounds ; desired to be heavy, it advanced to eighty- 
two pounds ; and these changes were instantaneous and 
repeated many times. 

" Not only is motion communicated to the table or 
other article of furniture, where the psychic is, but every- 
thing within soaie definite, though as yet undefined, dis- 
tance from the psychic appears to be subjected to the 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 239 

force. The smaller furniture of the room is frequently 
attracted to the place at which the psychic sits. Chairs, 
far out of reach and untouched, may be seen moving 
along the floor in a manner singularly resembling the 
motion that may be observed in pieces of steel attracted 
by a magnet, which rise a little, fall, move on, stop, 
until fully within the influence of the magnetic force, and 
then jump to the magnet with a sudden spring. The 
chairs, that are so often seen to come across the room to 
the psychic, usually approach by irregular motions, glid- 
ing for a short space, stopping, moving, and so on, until 
fully within the influence, and then the last movement is 
by a rapid jump. Larger articles of furniture are attracted 
in like manner, according to weight ; chairs more easily 
the whole length of a large room ; a sofa will advance 
two feet or three feet only. Plainly the force is limited 
in power. It can move only a certain iv eight ; bulk is no 
impediment to its exercise. Nor is this phenomenon at all 
dubious to the spectator. It cannot be fanciful ; it is not 
a delusion. However it may be done, the fact is indis- 
putable that it is done. The chairs start from the wall 
against which they are placed ; the sofa rolls forward ; 
the smaller tables approach. This occurs in the light of 
gas, in the private room of any person who makes trial 
of it, is seen by all, and often gives inconvenient proof 
of the fact by encompassing the seated circle. At one 
experiment six drawing-room chairs were attracted from 
the other side of the room, over distances ranging from 
six feet to ten feet, and thrust themselves against the 
circle ; two large easy-chairs advanced three feet ; and a 
large settee advanced about two feet. No person was 
near either of them. In another experiment in my own 
lighted drawing-room, as the psychic was entering the 
door with myself, no other person being there, an easy- 



240 27/yi? SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

chair, of great weight, that was standing fourteen feet 
from us, was suddenly lifted from the floor, and drawn 
to him with great rapidity, precisely as a huge magnet 
would attract a mass of iron." 

A physician, of high standing in his profession, resid- 
ing in an Eastern city, informs me that eighteen years ago 
he devoted considerable attention to the phenomenon of 
table-turning, and with such success that, after the move- 
ment of the table had commenced, he could direct itto move 
in any direction, without contact, the table obeying his will 
as if it possessed an animate existence. During my experi- 
ments with the plancbette, one instance occurred of the 
movement of the little instrument when no hand was rest- 
ing on it. It had written the name of a deceased friend of 
a gentleman present, and had repeatedly written the word 
"music." The gentleman stepped out of the room into 
another to gratify the wish, and while the sounds of the 
organ were heard the planchette, though untouched, ap- 
peared to be dancing on the table. We had been asking 
for " spirit-communications," and received what would be 
termed a veritable " test." Was it indeed so ? 

Dr. Carpenter, in a recent lecture, speaking of table- 
turning, says, " It was found that the table would tilt in 
obedience to the direction of some spirit, who was in the 
first instance (I speak now of about twent;/ years ago) 
always believed to be an evil spirit. The table-tilting 
first developed itself in Bath, under the guidance of some 
clergymen there, who were quite satisfied that the tilt- 
ings of the table were due to the presence of evil spirits. 
And one of these clergymen went further, and said it was 
Satan himself. But it was very curious that the answers 
obtained by the rappings and iWungs always folloived the 
notions of the persons who put the questions. These 
clergymen always got their answers as from evil spirits, 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 241 

or satisfied themselves that they were evil spirits by the 
answers they got. But, on the other hand, other persons 
got answers of a different kind ; an innocent girl, for in- 
stance, asked the table if it loved her, and the table 
jumped up and kissed her." 

The report made to the Dialectical Society presents 
us with a striking illustration of the above. A gentle- 
man, claiming to have had seventeen years' experience 
of the phenomenon in question, gave his testimony be- 
fore the committee. He said, " On one occasion, the 
answer given to the inquiry being obviously untrue, the 
witness peremptorily inquired why a correct answer had 
not been given, and the spirit in reply said, ' Because I 
am Beelzebub !' 

" One day the table turned at right angles, and went 
into the corner of the room. I asked, ' Are you my 
child V but obtained no answer. I then said, ' Are you 
from God V but the table was still silent. I then said, 
' In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I 
command you to answer. Are you from God?' One 
loud rap — a negative — was then given. ' Do you be- 
lieve,' said I, 'that Christ died to save us from sin?' 
The answer was, ' No !' 'Accursed spirit,'' said I, ' leave 
the room.' The table then walked across the room, en- 
tered the adjoining one, and quickened its steps. It was 
a small tripod table. It walked with a sidelong walk. 
It went to the door, shook the handle, and I opened it. 
The table walke I into the passage, and I repeated the 
adjuration, receiving the same answer. Finally, con- 
vinced that I was dealing with an accursed spirit, I 
opened the strt et-'loor, and the table was immediately 
silent; no movement or rap was heard. I returned 
alone to the drawing-room, and asked if there were any 
spirits present. Immediately I heard steps like those of 
L 21 



242 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

a little child outside the door. I opeoed it, and the small 
table went into the corner as before, just as my child did 
when I reproved it for a fault. These manifestations 
continued until I used the adjuration, and I always found 
that they changed or ceased when the name of God was 
mentioned. One night, when sitting alone in my draw- 
ing-room, I heard a noise at the top of the house. A 
servant who had heard it came into the room frightened. 
I went to the nursery, and found that the sounds came 
from a spot near the bed.* I pronounced the adjuration, 
and they instantly ceased. The same sounds were after- 
wards heard in the kitchen, and I succeeded in restoring 
quiet as before. 

" Reflecting on these singular facts, I determined to 
inquire further, and really satisfy myself that the mani- 
festations were what I suspected them to be. I went to 
Mrs. Marshall, and took with me three clever men, who 
were not all likely to be deceived. I was quite unknown. 
"We sat at a table, and had a seance. Mrs. Marshall told 
me the name of my child. I asked the spirit some ques- 
tions, and then pronounced the adjuration. We all heard 
steps which sounded as if some one were mounting the 
wall: in a few seconds the sound ceased, and, although 
Mrs. Marshall challenged again and aguin, the spirit did 
not answer, and she could not account for the phenomenon. 
In this case I pronounced the adjuration mentally; no 
person knew what I had done. At a seance held at the 
house of a friend of mine at which I was present, mani- 
festations were obtained ; and, as I was known to he 
hostile, I was entreated not to interfere. I sat for two 
hours a passive spectator. I then asked the name of the 
spirit, and it gave that of my child. ' In the name of the 

* "A child is usually a more powerful psychic than a man." — Cox, 
p. 53. 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 243 

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' said I, ' are you the spirit 
of my child V It answered, 'No!' and the word ' deviV 
was spelled out. 

"My opinion of these phenomena is that the intelli- 
gence which is put in communication with us is a fallen 
one. It is of the devil, the prince of the power of the 
air. I believe that we commit the crime of necromancy 
when we take part in these spiritual seances. 

"At the Spiritual Athenaeum I saw written upas a 
motto the words, ' Try the spirits.' I did so, and found 
that they were not from God. Of course I believe in 
the New Testament. Any spirit which denies the atone- 
ment or does not believe in the Trinity cannot be from 
God. When we pronounce the name of God, we must 
mean what St. John meant, the three persons in one." 

To this account of personal experience the witness 
somewhat naively adds, " I have never stopped them 
by an effort of the will alone. (!) I never used the ad- 
juration without stopping the manifestations." 

Tlie general committee of the Dialectical Society com- 
prised thirty-four persons, including scientific and liter- 
sny, professional and business men, and their report may 
be briefly summed up as follows : 

1. Solid substances may be set in motion without 
muscular exertion or personal contact, and, in obedience 
to an expressed desire from persons present, will move 
in a required direction. 

2. Sounds may be beard pi'oceeding from furniture, 
floors, walls, and other solid substances, and vibrations 
accompanying the sounds are distinctly felt. 

3. By means of these movements and sounds coherent 
communications can be spelled out, though the intel- 
ligence manifested never rises above a commonplace 
character. 



244 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

4. Facts generally unknown are frequently revealed 
in this manner, yet are always known to at least one 
person present. 

5. The power by which these phenomena occur evi- 
dently proceeds from the human organism. 

(To the above may be appended these additional con- 
clusions, as legitimate deductions from the facts set forth 
in the preceding pages :) 

6. The character of the intelligence is determined by 
the convictions of those present. •- 

In the case of the spiritist, it is spirits of the dead ; 
with the believer in demoniacal possession, it is of the 
devil; with the unbiased scientific investigator, it is 
simply intelligence, making no claim to distinct person- 
ality. And, furthermore, it may be confidently laid down 
that if a circle were composed of individuals whose minds 
were filled with a conviction of the existence of fairy- 
land, fairies and elves would be as ready to respond (or 
" commune") as Tom Scrubbs to the spiritists, or Beel- 
zebub to superstitious inquirers. 

7. This force, frequently proceeds from persons who 
are not believers in spirit-communion. 

It is sometimes manifested when the object of the 
seance is to prove that " spirits" are not essential to 
its manifestation, thus compelling the spiritist to as- 
sume the paradox that the skeptical medium controls 
the " spirit" to give tests that "spirits" are not concerned 
in the manifestation ! Of the medium employed by the 
sub-committee of the Dialectical Society, whose report 
has been given, Mr. Cox says that, after resolving that 
no professional medium should be employed, " a psychic 
was found in the person of a lady, the wife of one of the 
members of the general committee, of high professional 
and social position. In this we were pre-eminently 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 245 

fortunate ; for the lady in question had never witnessed 
any of the phenomena with others, and therefore could 
not have mastered the sleight of hand, requiring- the prac- 
tice of a life for its mastery, which would be necessary 
for the successful performance of a trick, if trick it was. 
In truth, she had discovered their production in her own 
presence only by chance, a few weeks previously to 
acceding to the request of the sub-committee to assist 
them in their investigations." 

8. The medium is an unconscious agent. 

Not an agent, however, in the hands of a hypotheti- 
cal "influence." Exercising no power of the will over 
the manifestation of this force, a j^^ssive condition of 
mind is induced in the medium, and the dominant thought 
or feeling gives rise to and shapes the actions performed ; 
these manifestations occur more markedly, however, in the 
presence of others in like passive moods than when alone. 

9. This force is variable in its manifestation. 

At one moment slight and tremulous, in the next pow- 
erful and rapid. It is affected by all the physical condi- 
tions affecting the physical condition of the medium, 
such as atmospheric changes, higher or lower tempera- 
tures, his or her nervous condition or that of others 
present: in short, whatever tends to weaken the nerve- 
energy of the medium will lessen the flow of the force, 
and vice versa. Rarely manifested immediately, a cer- 
tain time is generally spent in awaiting the phenomena, 
during which nothing must occur to impair the complete 
passivity of the mind; and this brings us to the final 
conclusion. 

10. "Physical manifestations" are the result of a 
nerve-force proceeding from the human organism, under 
the control of the unconscious workings of the mind, by 
some process not as yet clearly defined by science. 

21* 



246 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

Mr. Cox, in commenting on the phenomena witnessed 
by the committee of which he was a member, says, " So 
far as I have found in my own experience, and by the 
reported experience of others, it appears that the intel- 
ligence of the communication is measured by the intelli- 
gence of the psychic. Nothing is conveyed by them 
that is not in the mind of the psychic or of some person 
present. 

" There is nothing in the character or substance of the 
communications indicating an intelligence higher than 
our own, or a larger knowledge. They are often useless 
and purposeless ; they are rarely absolute nonsense ; but 
as rarely do they exhibit anything beyond ordinary intel- 
ligence. They consist mainly of moral platitudes ; both 
the thought and the language reflect the thoughts and 
language of the psychic. 

"Not unfrequently the communications are false in 
point of fact. They are often tentative, as if the directing 
intelligence had an imperfect perception of the object or 
subject, or as if it were guessing rather than knowing 
the answer to be given. The descriptions of the future 
life are precisely such as the psychic would form. By a 
child psychic they are painted according to a child's 
notions of heaven ; and when the psychic is a man or 
a woman, they are described in accordance with the 
particular conceptions of a heaven entertained by that 
psychic. These differences as to the process of death and 
the conditions of a future life prove that the descriptions 
do not proceed from any intelligence actually acquainted 
with them, and therefore not from the spirits of the 
dead." 

Mr. Cox here sets forth in a few words the impression 
derived from a year and a half's scientific investigation 
of "spirit-communion;" but those who have read with 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 24T 

attention the preceding chapters will be prepared to admit 
that under mental exaltation the intelligence evinced may 
he far superior to the normal mental capacity of the me- 
dium, and, furthermore, that, when susceptible to mental 
impressions, facts long forgotten — or " out of mind" — 
may be recalled by hearing them from the medium's 
lips. But such instances are very rare even among me- 
diums. The commonplace character of the messages 
observed in England is also to be plainly discerned in 
this country, as well as the connection existing between 
the ideas of the medium and that written as a "message." 
A gentleman residing in Lowell, Mass., visited a "test- 
medium," and received as a "test," supposed to "de- 
monstrate" an endless amount of speculation, the name 
of " T. Pane" written in blood-red letters on the bared 
arm of the medium. Hardly prepared to believe that 
Paine had forgotten how to spell his own name, he 
accepted the phenomenon as a " test," though not in the 
manner designed. He subsequently ascertained that the 
medium was a very illiterate person. 

I have now before me two "spirit-messages" written 
by Mr. Charles Foster, who, at the time they were 
written, 1866, enjo3^ed the reputation of being the most 
powerful and convincing "test-medium" in this country. 
I visited him, paid one dollar, and for value received 
brought away these lines, heralded with the due amount 
of rappings and table-tiltings. The first is from a comrade 
who fell in battle in my presence : 

" This is a pleasure for me to come here to-night as 
an evidence of spirit-communion. I am ever by your 
side, watching over you, and wish you to fully realize 
my presence. The time is not far distant when you will 
have a full vision of jour unseen friends ; we are working 



248 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

now to that end, to bring about such evidences through 
you as will convince you beyond a doubt of our presence. 

" Charley ." 

— omitting the initials of two middle names, as well as 
certain information I was desirous of obtaining, and which 
he could have given if he indited the above. The second 
is from a deceased aunt, of whom I had not been think- 
ing, but whose name had been written on a slip of paper 
by Mr. Foster, who said she desired to "communicate." 
I accordingly wrote on paper the following : " Can you 
write or speak any message you desire to give ?" In 
response the following lines were written underneath : 

" I am here to prove that we are working for you from 
the spirit-life. I come to you uncalled for, and wish to 
bear you a message of love from the heavenly world to 
assure you of my presence. Sit often, and you will be 
refreshed. "Sarah ." 

The signature is written in what purports to be a fac- 
simile of the deceased's handwriting; but to this "mes- 
sage" she has appended her name in accordance with the 
modern mode of spelling the Christian name. Her name 
was Sally ; she was so christened, so called, and it is so 
inscribed on her tombstone. 

Reader, our companionship is now drawing to a close. 
In our investigation of the phenomena accredited to 
spiritual beings, we have seen that they fail to afford 
demonstrative evidence of such origin. On the contrary, 
a rigid scrutiny reveals a close similarity to phenomena 
of which the origin is to be sought in the laws of mental 
physiology and pathology. Having traced this power, 



THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 249 

in mental phenomena, to mental exaltation, or to uncon- 
scious action of the brain, and in physical manifestations, 
to its seat in the nervous system, we may dismiss from 
our minds all further consideration of so-called " demoa- 
strations of spirit-communion." But one question remains, 
which will undoubtedly arise in every mind. Having 
shown that a force exists, emanating from the nervous 
system of human beings, what can be said in regard to 
its nature and methods of acting ? The temptation has 
been very great with all writers against the spirital 
theory to endeavor to explain in just what manner all the 
various phenomena may be accounted for. Each one, 
from the Buffalo M.D.'s in 1848, to Serjeant Cox in 18^2, 
has had a theory to offer, but which, unfortunately, has 
invariably failed to meet all the requirements of the facts. 

Mr. Cox, the most recent theorist on this subject, has 
given to the public many valuable facts, but in his infer- 
ences from them I think he has transcended the limits 
of scientific inquiry. In his preface he states: 

" The crucial tests applied by the skill and science of 
Mr. Crookes confirmed the result of a series of other ex- 
periments, conducted with care and caution, which had 
been instituted for the purpose of investigating if any and 
what of the alleged phenomena were real ; and, if real, 
Avhether they are physical or spiritual, natural or super- 
natural. 

" The conclusion from that patient inquiry has been, 
that many of the alleged phenomena are real, though some 
are delusions and others impostures ; that the power 
dignified by the title of spiritual, because attributed to 
the presence and action of spirits of the dead, is in fact a 
psychic force proceeding from the human structure and 
directed by the human intelligence. 

" But from what part of the human structure that force 



250 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

proceeds, — whether from nerve, ganglion, or brain, — if it 
be the vital force, or 'nerve-ether' of Dr. Richardson, if 
the directing intelligence is the ' unconscious cerebration' 
of Dr. Carpenter, or if there be a soul (or spirit) inhabit- 
ing the body and distinct from it, by which those effects 
are produced, are problems remaining for close, patient, 
and extensive research, by steadily pursuing the course 
of scientific investigation which Mr. Crookes has so suc- 
cessfully begun." 

To this statement of the case I urge no objection ; but 
he goes on to state further what I deem unwarranted by 
the facts and not in accord with science. He says : 

" For theology and modern science are directly at 
issue as to the existence of a soul in man. Theology 
affirms, and science either denies or doubts, demanding 
proofs. If psychic force be the reality that they M'ho 
have scientifically examined and tested it assert, it shakes 
to its foundation the materialism of modern science, by 
the probability it raises that, as a fact in nature, there is in 
us an entity, distinct from the corporeal structure, which 
can exercise an active force, beyond the limit of the bodily 
powers, and which is not material, but something other 
than that the scalpel carves and the microscope reveals. 

" The purpose of this brief treatise is to state fully and 
frankly the facts and arguments that have conducted to 
the conclusion that there is such a force, and a non-cor- 
poreal something in us that controls it, and that science 
may yet be enabled to restore the faith science has shaken 
in the existence of the soul and the consequent prospect 
of immortality." 

Here we have the old error of the spiritist repeated. 
He would materialize spirit by this process of reasoning 
quite as much as those do whom we are criticising ; an 
error similar in nature to that of the sublimated author 



THE Sr I RITUAL DELVSlOy. 251 

of "The Hollow Globe," who says directly what in the 
above is logically implied, as follows: " It will be diffi- 
cult to find the dividing line between physical and spiritual 
substances, if there be any such line, and tell where matter 
terminates and spirit commences, or which is matter 
and which is spirit." In the preceding chapter we have 
seen that the tendency of scientific research is to establish 
the correlation of all forces. In the words of Herbert 
Spencer, " J.»?/ force manifested implies an equal ante- 
cedent force from which it is derived, and against which 
it is a reaction." And again in another work we have 
seen that he states the position of science in these words: 
" It follows, from the persistence of force, that each por- 
tion of mechanical or other energy which an organism 
exerts implies the transformation of as much organic matter 
as contained this energy in a latent state." Emerson 
humorously says, "I knew a witty physician who found 
theology in the biliary duct, and used to affirm that if there 
was disease of the liver the man became a Calviuist, and 
if that organ was sound he became a Unitarian." But to 
urge as "a fact in nature" that the soul may be sought in 
a ganglion, or manifest a physical force " distinct from the 
corporeal structure," is unwarranted alike by sound phi- 
losophy and modern science. 

I have not sought to advocate any specific theory with 
which all the phenomena will be found to accord; on the 
contrary, the psychological facts underlying the spirital 
philosophy are various in their causes, and, while some 
may be classified as instances of mental exaltation or 
unconscious activity of the mind, others are explicable on 
the ground of mental sympathy, or seem to be the result 
oftentimes of a force proceeding from the nervous system 
of one or more individuals, and operating in a manner, as 
yet, not clearly defined. To give reasons for believing 



252 THE SPIRITUAL DELUSION. 

that spirits of the dead are not concerned in any of these 
various phenomena has been the object of the foregoing 
pages ; and however more forcibly the matter might have 
been presented, still if thej serve to satisfy doubts exist- 
ing in the minds of so many in view of the marvelous- 
ness of the phenomena witnessed, and shall lead any one 
to clearer conceptions of the distinction between spiritual 
and physical existence, the author will feel that his labor 
has not been in vain. 



THE END 



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